The League of Women for Community Service, founded in 1918, is a historic Black women's organization in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

History

The League of Women for Community Service was founded in 1918 to provide support

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

soldiers and sailors during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Since Blacks were denied access to many forms of public accommodation, they formed the Soldiers Comfort Unit with committees assigned responsibility for "publicity, hospitality, entertainment, music, supplies, soldiers and sailors visiting, junior comfort unit, printing, knitting, and Red Cross". The League's first president was Maria Baldwin, a pioneering African American educator who occupied the role until her death in 1922. Other notable members included Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Florida Ruffin Ridley, and

Maud Cuney Hare Maud Cuney Hare (''née'' Cuney, February 16, 1874 – February 13 or 14, 1936) was an American pianist, musicologist, writer, and African-American activist in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. She was born in Galveston, the daughter o ...

. League meetings were initially held in members' homes. In January 1920, the League acquired a townhouse to serve as its headquarters. The building, located on Chester Square at 558 Massachusetts Avenue, was built for

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

William and Martha Carnes in 1857/58. They made it a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. The home was sold to Nathaniel W. Farwell in 1868 and the League purchased the home on January 30, 1920, from the Nathaniel Farwell's widow Eliza. After World War I, the League expanded to provide social programs and services for Boston's Black community. During the 1930s, the city Welfare Department positioned a social worker in the League's offices. The League sponsored a school lunch program for students at the Dwight (now the Hurley School) on West Springfield Street across from the rear of the headquarters building. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(WPA) established Boston's first community reading and game room in the basement. The League provided lodging for students excluded from nearby college dormitories due to segregation.

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. As an advocate for African-Ameri ...

roomed at the League's headquarters while attending

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

in the early 1950s. The League remains active. In 2021, the League received a grant from the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program formed in 2017 to aid stewards of Black cultural sites throughout the nation in preserving both physical landmarks, their material collections and associated narratives. It was organiz ...

to support the restoration of their building's entry portico. As part of its commitment to accessible higher education, the League awards Maria L. Baldwin Scholarships annually to college-bound female students of African American descent from the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston. In 2022, Boston's Archeological Program chose the yard space behind the League's headquarters for an archeological dig in the hopes of learning about the lives of the building's first owners, its role in the Underground Railroad, and the early history of the League.

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* {{Authority control African-American women's organizations Organizations based in Boston 1918 establishments in Massachusetts Women's clubs in the United States Women in Boston

History

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