Christine Shoecraft Smith (July 1, 1866 – 1954) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

community worker began her career as the assistant principal of the Alabama State Normal and Industrial School. She married an AME minister, who would become a bishop in the church and assisted him as the manager of the press organ of the Sunday School Union. She worked in many clubs and served as the 13th president of the

National Association of Colored Women's Clubs The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of t ...

(NACWC).

Early life

Christine Shoecraft was born on July 1, 1866, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Indiana, to Mary B. and A. R. Shoecraft. When she was two years old, Shoecraft's mother died and she was raised by her father and grandmother. The family moved to

Muncie Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...

, when Shoecraft was eight. Though she worked at washing, ironing and in domestic labor during her schooling, she graduated from high school when she was 17. With her savings from working, she was able to buy her graduation dress.

Career

Shoecraft was immediately offered a position as assistant principal of the State Normal and Industrial School in

Normal, Alabama Normal, Alabama is the home of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU), the largest HBCU in Alabama. The university is situated in Huntsville, Alabama's northern city limits in Madison County. Normal was established in 1890, when A ...

, serving in that capacity until December, 1887. The following year, in December, 1888, she married Rev.

Charles Spencer Smith Charles Spencer Smith (1852–1923) was a Methodist minister and afterwards bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as an Alabama state legislator. He wrote numerous pamphlets during his lifetime, as well as a history of the AME ...

. Rev. Smith was the founder of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

(AME)'s Sunday School Union. It was the largest press owned by African-Americans in the United States. Smith went to work at the press and served as a book-keeper, cashier, and clerk before becoming the assistant manager of the Union, the first woman to hold the post. Her work was not interrupted by the birth of their son, Charles Spencer Smith, Jr. and she founded the Women's Club of Nashville in 1896, aligning it with the

(NACWC). By 1899, Smith was involved with the NACWC and had been elected as its recording secretary. She continued to serve as the assistant manager of the press through 1900, when Rev. Smith became a bishop of the AME Church. His work required him to travel widely, and Smith established a home in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Smith was elected president of the Michigan State Association of Colored Women and was an executive member of the Detroit branch of the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

. In addition, she served on the executive of the Lucy Thurman

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

branch and was the residential and maintenance secretary of the Detroit YWCA for six years. In 1916, Smith organized the Young People's Department of the AME Church's Women's Parent Mite Missionary Society. In 1923, the year that her husband died, she was elected the first vice president of the Mite Society and in 1931 began serving as president of the organization. In that capacity, she traveled to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

several times, to make presentations and assist them in their missionary work. The Mite Society was an organization of women who both did social work in their community and raised funds to pay the salaries of those working as missionaries work abroad and build new churches. She served on the executive of numerous clubs and organizations, such as the United Council of Church Women, the Race Relations Commission of the Federal Council of Churches, the Women's Missionary Society. She was a delegate to all of the biennial meetings of the NACWC and in 1946, was elected its president. As president, she traveled widely throughout the United States and made a to Mexico near the end of her term. For several years she had contributed articles to ''National Notes'' the newsletter of the NACWC, until it was suspended in 1935. Smith revived the publication in 1947 and became its editor-in-chief. Her term ended in 1948 and that same year, she was appointed to the board of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment.

Death and legacy

Smith died in 1954. Her papers created during her years of service to the NACWC are housed in a microfilm collection compiled by the Women's Studies Department from the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

References

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Christine Shoecraft 1866 births 1954 deaths People from Indianapolis African-American educators American social workers Presidents of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs Educators from Indiana American women educators 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women