Born on May 11, 1872, Victoria Earle Matthews was a pioneering journalist, anti-lynching activist, and advocate for Black working women. A former enslaved child who became a respected author and speaker, Matthews founded the White Rose Mission in New York City in 1897 to support Black migrant women arriving from the South. The mission provided housing, literacy classes, and job training, at a time when Black women were often excluded from mainstream social services. Matthews’ work bridged the worlds of social reform and Black intellectual activism, linking race, gender, and class in her advocacy. She remains a forgotten but vital figure in the history of Black social welfare work.
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