The Association of Deans of Women and Advisers to Girls in Negro Schools (NAWDACS) was an advocacy group for black women within colleges and universities in the United States. Established through the efforts of Lucy Diggs Slowe in 1929, it lasted for twenty-five years until 1954, when it merged with the National Association of Personnel Deans and Advisers of Men in Negro Institutions. [1]
In March 1929, Lucy Diggs Stowe, founder of the National Association of College Women (NACW), convened at Howard University a NACW conference of deans and advisers to girls in Negro schools, which led to the founding of the Association. Five problems were identified as needing to be addressed: black women were under-represented on trustee boards and college administrations; properly qualified and salaried deans and advisers to girls were needed; female college students needed adequately equipped housing; female students needed properly planned extracurricular activity; and girls attending high school on college campuses needed separate housing and treatment.
Annual meetings were held at different black college campuses over the subsequent life of the association. Though Slowe served as president from 1929 to 1937, subsequent presidents held office for a shorter term: Georgia Myrtle Teale of Wilberforce University (1937-38); Hilda A. Davis of Talladega College (1938-39); Ina A. Bolton (1940-42); Flemmie P. Kittrell (1942-44); Mayme U. Foster (1944-46); T. Ruth Brett (1946-48); Emma C. W. Gray (1948-50); Virginia S. Nyabongo (1950-52); and Louise Latham (1952-54). From 1946 onwards the association held joint conferences with the National Association of Personnel Deans and Advisers of Men in Negro Institutions. The groups voted to merge in 1954, subsequently forming the National Association of Personnel Workers (NAPW). [1]
Howard University is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C., located in the Shaw neighborhood. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 members and supporters, 1,000 local branches, and 800 college and university partners. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. AAUW's CEO is Gloria L. Blackwell.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established the organization's flagship journal Aframerican Women's Journal, and presided as president or leader for a myriad of African American women's organizations including the National Association for Colored Women and the National Youth Administration's Negro Division.
The NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education is a U.S.-based student affairs organization with over 13,000 members at 1,400 campuses in 25 countries. Founded in 1919 at the University of Wisconsin, NASPA focuses on professionals working within the field of student affairs.
Beulah Elizabeth Burke (1885–1975), was, along with her sister, Lillie, one of the nine original founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1908, the first sorority founded by African-American women. In her leadership as an educator and civic activist, Burke created important social capital. Her legacy of Alpha Kappa Alpha has continued to contribute to society for over 100 years.
Lucy Diggs Slowe was an American educator and athlete, and the first Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. She was a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women.
Sallie Wyatt Stewart was an American educator and a social services organizer for the black community in Evansville, Indiana, who is best known for her leadership in local, state, and national black women’s clubs. Stewart served as president of the Indiana Federation of Colored Women from 1921 to 1928 and succeeded Mary McLeod Bethune as president of the National Association of Colored Women from 1928 to 1933. During her term as the IFCW's president, Stewart launched "The Hoosier Woman", a monthly newsletter that served as the organization's official publication. Among her accomplishments as the NACW's president was the founding in 1930 of the National Association of Colored Girls. In addition, Stewart was a delegate in 1930 to the International Council of Women in Vienna, Austria, and fourth vice president of the National Council of Women of the United States. She also served a trustee and secretary of the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association, a member of the executive committee of the National Negro Business League, a member of the executive committee of the National Colored Merchants Association, and a teacher in the Evansville public schools for more than fifty years.
Mary P. Burrill was an early 20th-century African-American female playwright of the Harlem Renaissance, who inspired Willis Richardson and other students to write plays. Burrill herself wrote plays about the Black Experience, their literary and cultural activities, and the Black Elite. She featured the kind of central figures as were prominent in the black society of Washington, D.C., and others who contributed to black women's education in early twentieth century.
The dean of women at a college or university in the United States is the dean with responsibility for student affairs for female students. In early years, the position was also known by other names, including preceptress, lady principal, and adviser of women.
Thyrsa Wealtheow Amos was the Dean of Women and Professor of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1919 to 1941. She was the founder and First President of the Pennsylvania Association of Deans of Women, the founder of the Society of Cwens, and the president of the National Association of Deans of Women (NADW). Her main area of interest was in student personnel, especially for women. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women.
The National Association for Women in Education was an American organization founded in 1916 by Kathryn Sisson Phillips to support female deans of women.
Tossie Permelia Frances Whiting was an American educator, and Dean of Women at Virginia State University from 1919 to 1936.
Victoria Clay Haley, later Victoria Clay Roland, was an American suffragist, clubwoman, bank executive, and fundraiser based in St. Louis, Missouri and later in Chicago.
The Colored Women's League (CWL) of Washington, D.C., was a woman's club, organized by a group of African-American women in June 1892, with Helen Appo Cook as president. The primary mission of this organization was the national union of colored women. In 1896, the Colored Women's League and the Federation of Afro-American Women merged to form the National Association of Colored Women, with Mary Church Terrell as the first president.
John Warren Davis was an American educator, college administrator, and civil rights leader. He was the fifth and longest-serving president of West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia, a position he held from 1919 to 1953. Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, Davis relocated to Atlanta in 1903 to attend high school at Atlanta Baptist College. He worked his way through high school and college at Morehouse and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. At Morehouse, Davis formed associations with John Hope, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Samuel Archer, Benjamin Griffith Brawley, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. Du Bois. He completed graduate studies in chemistry and physics at the University of Chicago from 1911 to 1913 and served on the faculty of Morehouse as the registrar and as a professor in chemistry and physics. While in Atlanta, Davis helped to found one of the city's first chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Ethel Elizabeth McGhee Davis was an American educator, social worker, and college administrator. She served as the student adviser (1928–1931) and as the Dean of Women (1931–1932) for Spelman College in Atlanta.
The Slowe-Burrill House is a Queen Anne-style house in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Built in 1890, the home was occupied from 1922 to 1937 by Lucy Slowe and Mary Burrill, notable African American educators who are thought by historians to have been a couple. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 for its significance to African American and LGBT history.
Hilda Andrea Davis was an American educator, college administrator, and mental health professional.
Joanna Raynor Houston, later Joanna Houston Ransom, was an American English instructor, college administrator, assistant dean of women at Howard University, third Grand Basileus of Zeta Phi Beta, and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents.
Helen Hale TuckCohron was an American educator, clubwoman, and college dean. She was acting Dean of Women at Howard University from 1919 to 1922, and an active clubwoman in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s.