The Culture Club
Black women founded the Culture Club in Beloit in 1923. The Culture Club’s goal was to bring together Christian women who were interested in promoting social life and engaging in philanthropic activities. The club is affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, formed in 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women.
The Women’s Culture Club of Beloit raised funds for local charities and gave out scholarships to students. They were active in the Civil Rights Movement and the NAACP. Like the National Association of Colored Women’s clubs their motto was “Lifting as We Climb” to demonstrate to as Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin said in an 1895 address to the first National Conference of Colored Women "an ignorant and suspicious world that our aims and interests are identical with those of all good aspiring women.
The nine specific objectives of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (or NACWC) are as listed on their website:
To work for the economic, moral, religious and social welfare of women and children.
To protect the rights of women and children.
To raise the standard and quality of life in home and family.
To secure and use our influence for the enforcement of civil and political rights for all citizens.
To promote the education of women and children through the work of effective programs.
To obtain for African-American families the opportunity of reaching the highest levels of human endeavor.
To promote effective interaction with the organization's male auxiliary.
To promote inter-racial understanding so that justice and good will may prevail amongst all people.
To hold informative workshops biennially at organization's National Convention.