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= Colored Women's League = The Colored Women's League (CWL) of Washington D.C was organized by a group of African-American women in June 1892, with Mrs. Helen A. 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 (NACW), with Mary Church Terrell as the first president.

History
“While notable black men of the period, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, were making their marks on racial relations, black women in the CWL began to organize and develop suitable methods of resistance to both racial and gender injustice because they were vehemently aware of their double jeopardy nearly a century before Crenshaw ever coined the term intersectionality in 1989." In June of 1892, a group of several prominent black women in Washington D.C. met together to discuss creating a club devoted to improving the conditions of black children, women and the urban poor. Some of these women were Anna Julia Cooper, Helen A. Cook, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Bailey, Charlotte Forten Grimké, Mary Jane Peterson, and Evelyn Shaw. Helen A. Cook was elected the first president. The Colored Women's League was a coalition of 113 organizations, and the goal of national unity was at the forefront of the club's objectives. In a letter written in 1894 to The Women's Era, the first national newspaper published by and for African American women, Cook reported a few accomplishments of the league. These accomplishments included hosting a series of public lectures for girls at local high schools and Howard University; raising $1,935 towards a home for the league; creating classes for German, English Literature, and hygiene; and establishing a sewing school and mending bureau with 88 students and ten teachers. Mary Church Terrell would also provide updates about the CWL's efforts to this newspaper. According to historian Fannie Barrier Williams, this organization had the largest membership of any African American women's club in the country.

The league faced several critiques because the ideology of racial uplift possessed classist undertones. Many members of the league, especially those in leadership positions, had high social standings. In fact, some even called members of the league "female aristocrats of color". However, these women would use their high social standings as a platform to reach their objectives. As a result of the success of the CWL, other black women became aware of the possibility of creating a united front for themselves and created their own clubs.

Merger
Although the primary goal of the CWL was national unity for colored women, this goal was not reached until July 21, 1896 when the National Association of Colored Women was formed as a result of the merging of the Colored Women's League and the Federation of Afro-American Women. The merging of the two organizations was long-awaited by the black community. Many newspapers, including the Leavenworth Herald, discussed their opinions on the merge in their newspapers. When discussing the merge initially, the Colored Women's League declined to join the National Federation of Afro-American Women, which many people saw as an act of pettiness. However, in actuality President Cook did not have the authority to commit the league. The decision to merge was to some extent a response to Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin's appeal to protect the reputation of black women. Ruffin's appeal was in response to a brutal letter from a Southern white journalist, which ridiculed the moral character of black women. To combat the "controlling images" of stereotypical black women, these organizations united to effectively handle issues in their communities. Also, the realization came to both organizations that they could become an even greater force in the United States if they could publicly settle their differences and work together. Not long after, Margaret Murray Washington, the president of the National Federation of Afro-American Women and wife of Booker T. Washington, and Helen A. Cook, president of the Colored Women's League, began making plans to discuss consolidating their two organizations.

Rivalry
Both organizations, the Colored Women's League and the Federation of Afro-American Women, had similar objectives in mind: advancing the conditions for black women, children, and underprivileged. However, prior to their merge these organizations did not always see eye-to-eye. The biggest factor contributing to this rivalry was the debate about which organization was the first to be recognized as a national organization. Mary Church Terrell, the first president of the NACW, explains that "although the CWL was the first to suggest there should be a national organization", the first organization of black women to actually assemble nationally was the National Federation of Afro-American Women.

After the creation of the NACW, the contest for leadership of the national organization created another short rivalry. Each organization was represented by seven delegates in the election process, so ties of 7-7 made the voting process difficult. Eventually, at the age of thirty-three and pregnant, Mary Church Terrell of the Colored Women's League was named the first president of the NACW.

Helen A. Cook and Mary Church Terrell
The first president of the club was Mrs. Helen A. Cook. Cook was born on July 21, 1837 in New York, United States. She was one of the women credited with the creation of the Colored Women's League, as well as the first president. She came from a prominent family in the black community, and displayed her wealth through various skills such as being a musician and a talented linguist. In The Women's Era, Cook wrote the first "Washington Letter" about the activities of the CWL. In 1898, she was invited by W.E.B. DuBois to speak at the third annual Atlanta Conference of Negro Problems held at Atlanta University. At this conference, Cook outlined the achievements of the CWL, which included the enrollment of over 100 children in their kindergarten program.

Mary Church Terrell was born on September 23, 1863 in Memphis, Tennessee. During her early years of life, Terrell was sheltered from racism altogether. However, after her parent's divorce, she encountered racism after being sent to Ohio for schooling. After studying the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War, Terrell better understood discrimination. She excelled academically at Antioch College and Oberlin College, before graduating from Oberlin College in 1884. In June 1892, Terrell was one of the women who helped organize the Colored Women's League in Washington D.C. She was also a teacher in the evening school organized by the CWL. In an effort to raise money for a kindergarten for the black community, Terrell sold her speeches. After the merger of the Colored Women's League and the National Federation of Afro-American Women, Mary Church Terrell was named the first president of the National Association of Colored Women.

National League of Colored Women
The National League of Colored Women was a club created in Washington D.C. by Mary Church Terrell. It was the national extension of the Colored Women's League. On July 21, 1896, this club merged with the National Federation of Afro-American Women to form the National Association of Colored Women.

Objectives

 * To unite colored women nationally.
 * To improve conditions of black women locally and nationally.
 * To collect all facts obtainable to show the "moral, intellectual, industrial and social growth and attainments of our people, to foster unity of purpose, to consider and determine methods which will promote the interests of colored people [in every direction]".
 * To create a kindergarten for the black community.
 * To educate the youth.
 * To teach evening classes in literature, language, and other subjects.