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The African Dorcas Association was a black women's community aid society founded in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in January 1828. The women of this group sewed
clothes Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...
for New York's black children so that they would have appropriate attire for school. They were also one of the first societies where "women met independently and without the supervision of men." Through this work, the members of the African Dorcas Association hoped to make
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
more accessible for black youth in New York City. After just one year, this organization distributed 168 articles of clothing to school children. They became a prominent contributor to encourage young Black children to attend schools. New Yorkers surrounding the organization did not find it appropriate for black
women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
to be educated or involved in societal issues in this way, yet, despite the opposition, the African Dorcas Association thrived. The society remained in operation into the 1830s.


History

Once
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
had been abolished in New York, there was a large increase in the Black population, as a result the city leaders, both black and white realized the increasing demand to educate these children. The women in the African Dorcas Association were analyzed by a group of seven black ministers. This organization held Wednesday meetings every week and elected officer positions to lead this organization. The meetings were one of the first meetings that Black women held without the supervision of men. These meetings were held at the home of their president Margaret Francis. The clothing that they made was given to the member's children's schoolmates, neighbors, and friends. The Association also unveiled the difference in the "gender dynamic within New York's Black activist community", because it was geared towards youths, it demonstrated a motherly and nurturing form of
activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...
, which should not be confused with
sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
. The overall activities of the society reflected well on "African Ethic" in which people collectively contributed the various skills for a single cause, to help Black youth get an education. It was predetermined that a big reason why Black youth were not attending school was because they did not have adequate or even appropriate attire, this included both clothes and shoes. Especially in the winter months, the clothing that they had was old and worn and with some children having to walk several blocks to get to school it is no wonder they were missing school. The African Dorcas Association recognized this tragedy and initiated a change. They were quite successful in doing so, and it was not an
organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
that was solely based around money and external funds, they used their resources and found more clever ways to get things done. However, this organization came under scrutiny by the public in September 1828; however, despite these setbacks by February 1829, the women of this organization had "managed to distribute 168 articles of
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
and clothe 64 boys and girls."


Mission

Work in the African Dorcas Association was in connection to
religious beliefs A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...
and practices, such as doing service for others.{{Cite book, title = Freedom's Journal: The First African-American Newspaper, last = Bacon, first = Jacqueline, publisher = Lexington Books, year = 2007, isbn = 9780739118931, location = Lanham, MD, pages
139–142
url = https://archive.org/details/freedomsjournalf0000baco/page/139
The sole purpose of the African Dorcas Association was to "provide clothing and other necessary items for poor students who could not afford to do so." The acts of the African Dorcas Association was also representative of their "cultural practices, in which men and women performed different activities, yet everyone's contributions were seen as essential." The women of this association were able to achieve their mission by presenting these children with the clothing that then allowed them to attend school to get an education. These women ultimately achieved their mission by being able to give clothes to 64 children.


Notable members

Samuel Cornish Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – 6 November 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small free black community, where he organized the first congregation of black Pre ...
was an abolitionist and minister who helped head up the African Dorcas Association. At the time of its establishment, the association was put together by women; however, society at the time did not find that acceptable. As a result, Cornish, among a few other men, participated on the association's initial board. Margaret Francis played a big part of the African Dorcas Association. Margaret had offered up her home as the meeting area for these women. After the group established its rapport in the community, women participants started taking more leadership in the association. As a result, Margaret Francis was eventually elected as the association's president. Henrietta Green Regulus Ray was a very active abolitionist. In addition to her participation in other abolitionist and advocacy groups, Ray acted as the African Dorcas Association's secretary.


References

African-American history in New York City 19th century in New York City