National Council of Negro Women

The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1935 by educator, public administrator, and civil-rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune. It was created during a period when African American women were active in numerous separate clubs, professional associations, churches, civic groups, and reform campaigns but lacked a single national institution capable of coordinating their work. Bethune envisioned the council as an organization of organizations: a clearinghouse that could connect African American women's groups, amplify their political and economic influence, preserve their history, and promote practical improvements in family and community life. NCNW's work has generally emphasized advocacy, education, research, coalition-building, and community service rather than functioning primarily as a direct-action protest organization. Its objectives have included increasing African American women's participation in civic and political institutions, supporting educational opportunity, improving economic security, encouraging home ownership and entrepreneurship, and addressing health and social-welfare needs. The organization has also represented African American women's interests in national and international forums, including through consultative engagement with the United Nations. The council developed under a succession of prominent national chairs. Bethune led it from 1935 until 1949, followed by Dorothy B. Ferebee and Vivian C. Mason. Dorothy Height, who served from 1957 to 1997, was the organization's longest-serving leader and oversaw a period of professionalization, institutional development, civil-rights engagement, and expansion of its historical and cultural work. Height's priorities included securing tax-exempt status, establishing a memorial to Bethune, creating a museum and archival institution devoted to Black women's history, and strengthening NCNW's organizational infrastructure. NCNW has supported programs addressing poverty, literacy, education, health, housing, economic development, and youth opportunity. During the civil-rights and War on Poverty era, it recruited professional women and volunteers to assist Freedom Schools and related programs. Under Height, a rural economic initiative in Mississippi used a cooperative 'pig bank' model to help Black families build household resources and improve food security. Later initiatives included early-childhood literacy, obesity prevention, health and financial education for older African American women, support for students in science and technology, and technical assistance for youth centers. The organization also created cultural and historical projects. Its publications include The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, edited by Sue Bailey Thurman and issued in 1958, as well as later cookbooks focused on Black family traditions, food memories, health-conscious recipes, and intergenerational heritage. These publications connected culinary traditions with African American history, family identity, collective memory, and recognition of Black accomplishments. NCNW also established or supported archival work intended to preserve records of African American women whose contributions had been underrepresented in conventional historical institutions. A major public-facing program is the National Black Family Reunion, a cultural and educational event celebrating African American family life, traditions, community resilience, and civic values. NCNW has also operated through national affiliates, local sections, collegiate sections, research and policy centers, and international partnerships. Its international activities have included projects involving technology, literacy, microcredit, entrepreneurship, and educational exchange in African countries. The organization remains an active nonprofit institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a mission centered on advancing African American women and strengthening the communities connected to them.

The National Council of Negro Women was founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune, who sought to create a national structure through which African American women's organizations could coordinate their civic and social work. The council emerged from a broad network of Black women's clubs and professional groups that were already active in education, public health, employment, civil rights, church life, and community improvement. Rather than replacing those organizations, NCNW was designed to connect them and provide a common platform for research, advocacy, communication, and national representation. Bethune's leadership combined institution-building with political engagement. She wanted African American women to participate more fully in civic, political, economic, and educational institutions, while also addressing the material circumstances of Black families. From 1936 to 1942, she simultaneously led Bethune-Cookman College, headed NCNW, and served in the Roosevelt administration as director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. These overlapping responsibilities helped place NCNW within the wider network of New Deal-era Black leadership. Bethune remained national chair until 1949. Dorothy B. Ferebee served from 1949 to 1953, followed by Vivian C. Mason from 1953 to 1957. During these early decades, the council worked to increase the visibility of African American women and to promote what its historical accounts describe as a tradition of Black institutional achievement. Its political approach was often coalition-oriented and comparatively cautious about direct protest. Bethune and the organization participated in debates over equal rights and racial justice, but the council also emphasized education, economic advancement, public policy, and service delivery. Dorothy Height became national chair in 1957 and held the position until 1997. Her tenure was central to NCNW's modernization. Height worked to obtain tax-exempt status, strengthen the professional administration of the organization, establish a memorial to Bethune, and develop a museum and national archival resource devoted to Black women's history. She also connected NCNW's national advocacy with practical anti-poverty work. In Mississippi, a cooperative pig-bank project helped rural Black families build food and household resources. The initiative used livestock as a form of community capital and illustrated the council's preference for programs that could produce tangible economic benefits. During the civil-rights and Great Society period, NCNW recruited women with backgrounds in psychology, social work, education, and other professions, along with community volunteers. In 1965 these participants supported Freedom Schools and programs associated with the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. The council also pursued housing, employment, literacy, and community-development objectives. Its work complemented, rather than duplicated, the tactics of organizations focused primarily on demonstrations and litigation. Cultural preservation became another important part of NCNW's institutional identity. The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, published in 1958 and edited by Sue Bailey Thurman, used recipes and a calendar of commemorative occasions to present African American history through domestic and cultural practice. Later titles, including The Black Family Reunion Cookbook: Recipes and Food Memories, The Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook: Health Conscious Recipes and Food Memories, and Celebrating Our Mothers' Kitchens: Treasured Memories and Tested Recipes, placed greater emphasis on food while retaining oral histories, family narratives, political commentary, and heritage. These publications challenged stereotypes about Black women and treated family food traditions as evidence of historical continuity and collective achievement. After Height's long leadership, NCNW continued through a succession of national chairs, including Barbara L. Shaw, Ingrid Saunders Jones, Johnnetta B. Cole, Thelma T. Daley, and A. Lois Keith. The organization's listed national president and CEO from 2023 onward is Rev. Shavon L. Arline-Bradley. In its contemporary form, NCNW operates through national affiliates, local and collegiate sections, research and policy centers, and partnerships in the United States and Africa. Modern program areas include early-childhood literacy, health promotion, obesity prevention, financial and health education for older African American women, entrepreneurship, home ownership, youth opportunity, and STEM learning. NCNW has also collaborated with NASA on community learning centers for underserved students and maintained international projects involving literacy, technology, microcredit, small-business development, and educational exchange. The National Black Family Reunion remains one of its most visible cultural programs. Across these activities, the council retains its founding identity as an umbrella organization that combines advocacy, service, leadership development, historical preservation, and coalition-building for African American women and their communities.

• 2023

  New national chair and president take office

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  A. Lois Keith became national chair, while Rev. Shavon L. Arline-Bradley became national president and CEO.

• 1997

  Dorothy Height's national chair tenure ends

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  Height concluded nearly four decades as national chair after shaping NCNW's modern institutional and programmatic identity.

• 1991

  Black Family Reunion cookbook series begins

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  NCNW published The Black Family Reunion Cookbook, beginning a group of later publications centered on family food memories and African American heritage.

• 1965

  Freedom Schools and anti-poverty support expands

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  NCNW recruited professional women and volunteers for Freedom Schools and related Office of Economic Opportunity programs.

• 1958

  First NCNW historical cookbook is published

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro connected recipes and commemorative dates with African American history and cultural identity.

• 1957

  Dorothy Height becomes national chair

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  Height began a tenure that lasted until 1997 and focused on professionalization, institutional development, civil-rights engagement, and historical preservation.

• 1949

  Bethune's presidency ends

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  Dorothy B. Ferebee succeeded Bethune as national chair after Bethune's fourteen-year founding leadership.

• 1935

  National Council of Negro Women is founded

  [1]National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org

  Mary McLeod Bethune founded NCNW as a coordinating body for African American women's organizations and a vehicle for civic, political, educational, and economic advancement.

A national coalition and service organization for African American women that combines advocacy, research, cultural preservation, leadership development, and community-based programming. NCNW positions itself as an umbrella network linking established organizations and local sections while pursuing practical gains in education, health, economic security, civic participation, and human rights.

• Advocacy · 1935

  Advocacy and public-policy programs

  NCNW advocates for policies affecting African American women, families, and communities. Its policy interests have included education, health, economic opportunity, civil rights, human rights, and the evaluation of judicial and public-policy developments. The organization has historically used research, coalition work, public education, and national representation rather than relying exclusively on protest activity.

• Cultural and community event

  National Black Family Reunion

  The National Black Family Reunion is a public cultural program celebrating African American family traditions, resilience, values, foodways, history, and community life. It extends NCNW's founding emphasis on strengthening families and communities while providing a platform for education, civic participation, health information, and cultural expression.

• Education

  Early-childhood literacy programs

  NCNW has supported literacy initiatives intended to improve early educational outcomes and reduce achievement gaps. These activities fit within the council's long-standing interest in educational access and its use of community sections, volunteers, and partner institutions to reach children and families.

• STEM and youth education

  Community Learning Centers

  Through a partnership involving NASA, NCNW developed community learning activities aimed at traditionally underserved students. The initiative used local educational settings to broaden access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning and to connect youth development with community infrastructure.

• Health and financial education

  African American Women As We Age

  This initiative and publication addressed issues facing older African American women, with an emphasis on health, financial knowledge, and preparation for later life. It illustrates NCNW's expansion beyond civil-rights advocacy into targeted education and quality-of-life programming.

• International development

  International economic empowerment programs

  NCNW has described partnerships in African countries involving literacy, technology access, microcredit, entrepreneurship, small-business incubation, and educational exchange. These projects extend the council's mission to women of African descent and connect domestic advocacy with international economic-development work.

• Publication · 1958

  The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro

  Edited by Sue Bailey Thurman and published in 1958, this landmark cookbook organized recipes around the calendar and historical commemorations rather than conventional food categories. It presented African American history through recipes, people, holidays, and cultural traditions, making heritage preservation part of NCNW's public educational work.

• Publication · 1991

  The Black Family Reunion Cookbook

  Published in 1991, this cookbook centered recipes and food memories connected with African American family life. Its combination of culinary material and personal recollection continued NCNW's use of foodways to preserve cultural identity and intergenerational memory.

• Publication · 1993

  The Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook

  Issued in 1993, this publication emphasized health-conscious recipes and food memories. Like other NCNW cultural works, it treated family narratives and domestic traditions as important sources of African American history and community cohesion.

• Publication · 1994

  Celebrating Our Mothers' Kitchens

  Published in 1994, this cookbook preserved memories and tested recipes associated with African American mothers and family kitchens. It combined practical culinary content with stories about relatives, places, occasions, and cultural inheritance.

• 1965Freedom Schools and Office of Economic Opportunity support

  United States

  NCNW recruited women with professional backgrounds and unskilled volunteers to assist Freedom Schools and other emerging programs associated with the federal Office of Economic Opportunity, particularly in Mississippi.

  Outcome. The effort extended NCNW's role from national advocacy into direct participation in civil-rights-era education and anti-poverty work.

  Source
• Mississippi Pig Bank Initiative

  United States

  During Dorothy Height's leadership, NCNW supported a rural Mississippi economic and food-security initiative that provided pigs to Black families. Families could build household resources through breeding and repayment, making livestock a form of cooperative capital.

  Outcome. The program expanded from an initial group of approximately 55 pigs to more than 2,000, according to the cited historical account.

  Source
• National Black Family Reunion

  United States

  NCNW organizes a cultural and educational celebration focused on African American family traditions, values, history, health, and community resilience.

  Outcome. The event became one of NCNW's most visible public programs and a recurring expression of its family- and community-strengthening mission.

  Source
• International women's economic empowerment partnerships

  Benin · Uganda · Senegal · Eritrea · United States

  NCNW has participated in partnerships involving technology and literacy programs, microcredit, small-business incubation, and youth educational exchange with organizations in Africa.

  Outcome. The initiatives broadened NCNW's activities beyond the United States and connected African American women's advocacy with international development and women's economic empowerment.

  Source

• 1965

  Expand into direct anti-poverty and educational serviceStrategy

  Background

  Civil-rights-era campaigns and federal anti-poverty programs created opportunities for established Black organizations to provide education and community services.

  Action taken

  NCNW recruited professionals and volunteers to support Freedom Schools and programs connected with the Office of Economic Opportunity.

  Aftermath

  The council strengthened its role as both an advocacy coalition and a provider or coordinator of community-based services.

  Source

• 1958

  Publish a historical cookbookProduct launch

  Background

  NCNW sought ways to preserve African American women's history and challenge the exclusion of Black accomplishments from mainstream historical narratives.

  Action taken

  The council published The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, edited by Sue Bailey Thurman, combining recipes with historical figures, commemorations, and cultural interpretation.

  Aftermath

  The publication established culinary heritage as one of NCNW's vehicles for cultural education and historical preservation.

  Source

• 1957

  Professionalize and institutionalize the councilStrategy

  Background

  Dorothy Height assumed leadership at a time when NCNW needed stronger administrative capacity and permanent institutions for African American women's history.

  Action taken

  Height prioritized tax-exempt status, professional administration, a Bethune memorial, and a museum and archival institution devoted to Black women's history.

  Aftermath

  The organization moved toward a more durable national infrastructure while retaining its advocacy and community-service functions.

  Source

• 1935

  Adopt an umbrella-organization modelStrategy

  Background

  African American women already participated in many separate clubs, professional bodies, and community organizations, but their efforts were dispersed across institutions.

  Action taken

  Mary McLeod Bethune established NCNW as a coordinating council that could disseminate information, align organizations, and represent shared interests nationally.

  Aftermath

  NCNW developed into a network linking national affiliates, local sections, collegiate sections, and community programs.

  Source

1. 1National Council of Negro Womenen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Council of Negro Women official websitencnw.org