For nearly 100 years, the Shelby Negro Woman’s Club has been making a mark on Cleveland County.
The dedicated women volunteer in the school system, feed the hungry, deliver blankets to cancer patients, donate snacks to hospice and raise money for annual scholarships.
The club’s motto, “Lifting as we Climb,” illustrates the goal to elevate women, improve race relations and better the community they call home.
The Shelby Negro Woman’s Club, which is part of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, America’s oldest Black women’s organization, celebrated its 95th anniversary in March.
On a recent Friday morning at Washington Outreach Ministry, teams of volunteers prepared to distribute boxes of food to the long line of people waiting in their cars. Some of the people arrived the night before to make sure they received the boxes, which contain pasta, meat, juice, cereal and other grocery items.
The Rev. Frances Webber, executive director of Washington Outreach Ministry, has been a member of the Shelby Negro Woman’s Club for several years.
“The women’s club is a civic group,” she said. “We do community service work.”
She said there are six or seven members who volunteer with the outreach ministry.
“Every Wednesday and every Friday they’re feeding the hungry,” Webber said.
She said it’s a working group that gets out in the community and makes a difference.
“We’re small in numbers, but we’re powerful in our work,” she said.
Pam Todd said she got involved because of the service work the club does.
“They’re all women of service,” she said. “They’re just good ladies.”
The club also serves another purpose.
“It helps us to know about our culture,” Todd said.
Webber, who also serves as the club’s chaplain, said it is a way to honor and understand their past.
“It’s important to understand our culture from which we came,” she said. “There’s a rich history with this club.”
Webber said it is a legacy and one that will hopefully benefit many generations.
Laura Jamerson, state president of the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs, one of the longest standing members joined in 1982.
“We are following the trail of the ladies who paved the way for us,” said Jamerson.
She said they are continuing the work of building up women and improving race relations.
Jamerson said she’s seen a positive difference over the years and wants to keep that momentum.
“We want to keep our community moving forward,” she said.
Jamerson is the president over the southeast region and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“We have followed the footsteps of some great ladies. Mrs. Enloe was one of the charter members, Ezra Bridges, Mrs. Palmer,” she said. “We have big footsteps to follow.”
Jamerson said she was attracted to the club because of all the wonderful things they were doing in the community. There are currently nine members, and they are eager to welcome new and younger women to the club.
“We are one of the most renowned African American organizations in Shelby,” she said. “I am so proud of our Shelby Negro Woman’s Club.”
The original intent of the club was for largely charitable purposes, and one of the original missions was to support a girls’ home in North Carolina.
Jamerson said they promote character building, citizenship, equal rights and Black womanhood.
They helped support, in various ways, the Girls Club, Hospice, cancer patients and the Kidney Foundation. They made back-to-school packets for kids and volunteer with the Washington Outreach Ministry.
For more than 30 years, they have been hosting an annual fashion show with the proceeds going to scholarships for each of the four high schools in the county.
They are also involved with voter registration.
“We don’t endorse any candidates, we just encourage people to get out and vote,” Jamerson said.
They meet once a month in different spaces, rotating among each other’s homes or other locations around the county, and recently went back to having in-person meetings after two years of Zoom meetings.
She said they are continuing the work of building up women and improving race relations.
Jamerson said she’s seen a positive difference over the years.
“We want to keep our community moving forward,” she said.
Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com.
