 | This page's infobox may require expansion, verification, or otherwise need cleanup.(November 2020) |
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| Formed | 1908 |
|---|---|
| Location | Richmond Virginia |
| Type | Book club |
| Flower | Hyacinths |
| Club colors | Pink and white |
Formed in 1908 in Richmond, Virginia, the Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club (TCBLC) is one of the oldest African American book clubs in the United States. The social, nonprofit organization is an association for women who possess an affinity for literature and music.
Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club was established in 1908 by Mrs. Mary Simpson in Richmond, Virginia. The club predates nearly all of the cultural organizations in the country and is the oldest for African American women in Virginia. It is also one of the oldest book clubs of African American women in the United States. The club's founding members were Mrs. Annie Hughes, Mrs. Ellen Russell, Mrs. Emma Roper, Mrs. Blanche Burke, and Mrs. Lucille Barco. Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2008, which was reported by Richmond Times Magazine.
On Saturday, June 12, 2018, the club celebrated its 110th anniversary by hosting the "Music and Prose Soirée" in the Living & Learning Center at Virginia Union University. The event was a celebration of the arts with Dr. Peyton McCoy serving as the Mistress of Ceremonies and poetically weaving the club's history throughout the program. Performers included vocalist Joye B. Moore, jazz pianist Dr. W. Weldon Hill, saxophonist Juan "JD" Young, jazz bassist Michael Hawkins, and the Victor Haskins Quartet. Kym Grinnage, Vice President of the NBC affiliate WWBT, and his wife, Kyle Grinnage performed an entertaining dance and educated guests on the origins of "the hustle". The event was covered by RVA Magazine.
Mrs. Simpson was the wife of Dr. Joshua B. Simpson, a Latin Professor at Virginia Union University (VUU), [1] [2] [3] one of 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in America. A native of New England, Mrs. Simpson lived in Washington, D.C. where she enjoyed an enriched cultural and social life, including membership of the Treble Clef Book and Music Lovers' Club. After she relocated to Richmond, Mrs. Simpson wanted to replicate her cultural experience in DC and formed a similar club. Initially, the members were married ladies whose husbands were the faculty of VUU. Today, the Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club is composed of single and married women who hold prominent positions in education, business and health. Many are professional musicians and published authors.
Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, jazz, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol sessions by Appalachian Virginians.
Virginia Union University is a private historically black Baptist university in Richmond, Virginia. It is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. and the American Baptist Churches USA.
The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Woman's Era Club of Boston, and the Colored Women's League of Washington, DC, at the call of Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin. From 1896 to 1904 it was known as the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). It adopted the motto "Lifting as we climb", to demonstrate to "an ignorant and suspicious world that our aims and interests are identical with those of all good aspiring women." When incorporated in 1904, NACW became known as the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC).
The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, INC. (PCC) is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational and cultural organization. It was founded in 1966 by members of Musicians' Protective Union Local #274, American Federation of Musicians. Local #274 was chartered in 1935 as a separate Black local because Black musicians were denied membership in the racially segregated Local #77. Local #274 enjoyed its autonomy for more than 36 years. It was the longest surviving independent Black Musicians' Union in the United States, of the more than fifty chartered in major cities.
The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) is an American non-profit philanthropic music organization that promotes American music, performers, and composers. NFMC endeavors to strengthen quality music education by supporting "high standards of musical creativity and performance." NFMC headquarters are located in Greenwood, Indiana. Since its founding in 1898, the NFMC has grown into one of the world’s largest music organizations with club and individual members of all ages. The NFMC is chartered by the Congress of the United States, and is the only music organization member of the United Nations.
Wayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C., school of the National Theological Institute. The institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS). At first designed primarily for providing education and training for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry, it expanded its offerings to meet the educational demands of the former enslaved population. Just before the end of the 19th century it was merged with its sister institution, the Richmond Theological Seminary, to form the current Virginia Union University in Richmond.
Richmond Theological Seminary (RTS) was a higher education institution in Richmond, Virginia, serving former slaves after the American Civil War. It had its beginnings in November 1865 when the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) sponsored Joseph Getchell Binney a short-lived class in Richmond, VA for theological training of African-Americans.
Charles Henry Corey (1834-1899), was a Canadian Baptist clergyman.
David Robbins is a retired American basketball coach. Robbins is best known for coaching at NCAA Division II power Virginia Union University, where he won 713 games and three NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament titles. Out of all NCAA coaches who have won more than 700 wins, Robbins is the second winningest coach with a winning percentage of 0.786. He is second only to Adolph Rupp who had a winning percentage of 0.822. Jerry Tarkanian, Dean Smith, Steve Moore, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari, and Bo Ryan make up the remaining top ten. Seven out of 10 of those coaches have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Robbins, Moore, and Ryan have not.
The Union United Church of Montreal is Montreal, Quebec, Canada's oldest black congregation. It was founded in 1907 by several members of Montreal's black community who experienced racial conflict and were banned from entering all-white churches. Union was started with a treasury of just $1.83. The church has gone on to have a long and rich history, and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. It is just one of the many churches that are part of the United Church of Canada. It is believed to be the only church affiliated with the United Church of Canada, however, that worships in the historically black tradition and has a predominantly black congregation.
Samuel DeWitt Proctor was an American minister, educator, and humanitarian. An African-American church and higher education leader, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement and is perhaps best known as a mentor and friend of Martin Luther King Jr.
The sculptor Leslie Garland Bolling was born in Surry County, Virginia, United States on September 16, 1898, the son of Clinton C. Bolling, a blacksmith, and his wife Mary. His carvings reflected everyday themes and shared values of the Black culture in the segregated South in the early 20th century. Bolling was associated with the Harlem Renaissance and is notable as one of a few African-Americans whose sculpture had lasting acclaim.
Alice Carlotta Jackson Stuart was an American educator, and the first African-American woman to apply for graduate school studies at the University of Virginia. She was denied on the basis of "good and sufficient reasons" and later went on to earn her Master of Arts at Columbia University in 1937.
Hartshorn Memorial College was a school for African-American women in Richmond, Virginia, from 1883–1932, when it merged into Virginia Union University.
Rosa L. Dixon Bowser was an American educator. She was the first African-American teacher hired in Richmond, Virginia. She organized the Virginia Teachers' Reading Circle, which became the Virginia State Teachers Association, the first organization representing black teachers in Virginia, serving as the organization's president from 1890 to 1892. Bowser was president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Virginia, as well as founder and first president of the Richmond Woman's League. She was a correspondent for the magazine The Woman's Era, and wrote essays for national publications.
Ora Brown Stokes Perry (1882–1957) was an American educator, probation officer, temperance worker, suffragist, and clubwoman based in Richmond, Virginia.
Mamie Hilyer was an African American pianist and promoter of classical music, who founded the Treble Clef Club (1897) and the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society (1901) in Washington D.C., playing a significant role in nurturing the district's musical culture.
Alice Blanchard Coleman was an American missionary society leader. She served as president of the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society and of the Council of Women for Home Missions (1908-16). Coleman was a trustee of Hartshorn Memorial College, Richmond, Virginia; Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia; and the New England Baptist Hospital, Boston. Writing as "Mrs. George W. Coleman", she made at least two contributions to periodical literature, "The Women's Congress of Missions", 1915, and "Recent developments in Mormonism", 1918. All of Coleman's life was spent in the old South End of Boston.
Belinda Childress Anderson is an American academic administrator who served as the 11th president of the Virginia Union University from 2003 to 2008. She is its first female president. Anderson was later dean of the Norfolk State University college of liberal arts and a professor of history and interdisciplinary studies.
Mary Lumpkin (1832–1905) was an American former slave and owner of the property on which stood Lumpkin's Jail, a notorious slave jail. Mary was purchased by Robert Lumpkin around 1840 and made to act as his wife. She had the first of her seven children with him at age 13; two children died as infants. Mary "reportedly told [Robert] that he could treat her however he wanted as long as their kids remained free". Two of their daughters attended a Massachusetts finishing school.
Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club web address: www.trebleclefandbookloversclub.org
