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German Historical Institute Washington Bulletin, Supplement Bd. 13 (2017) Copyright Das Digitalisat wird Ihnen von perspectivia.net, der Online-Publikationsplattform der Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland, zur Verfügung gestellt. Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Digitalisat urheberrechtlich geschützt ist. Erlaubt ist aber das Lesen, das Ausdrucken des Textes, das Herunterladen, das Speichern der Daten auf einem eigenen Datenträger soweit die vorgenannten Handlungen ausschließlich zu privaten und nicht-kommerziellen Zwecken erfolgen. Eine darüber hinausgehende unerlaubte Verwendung, Reproduktion oder Weitergabe einzelner Inhalte oder Bilder können sowohl zivil- als auch strafrechtlich verfolgt werden. New Women’s Women’s International Women in Social The Transatlantic Introduction Biography Networks Movements Exchange of Knowledge A RARE COLORED BIRD: MARY CHURCH TERRELL, DIE FORTSCHRITTE DER FARBIGEN FRAUEN, AND THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN’S CONGRESS IN BERLIN, GERMANY, 1904 Noaquia N. Callahan On June 13, 1904, at the International Coun- cil of Women’s (ICW) congress in Berlin, Mary Church Terrell, a prominent African American feminist and civil rights advocate, delivered her speech, Die Fortschritte der farbigen Frauen [The Progress of Colored Women] before a large audience of leading international social and political activists. In her autobiography, Terrell recounted the signifi cance of her presence at the confer- ence: “I represented not only the colored women in my own country but, since I was the only woman taking part in the Interna- tional Congress who had a drop of African blood in her veins, I represented the whole continent of Africa as well.”1 Terrell was likely correct in her observation of being the only woman of color in attendance, as the ICW did not expand its membership beyond Europe and North America to include women activists from the “non-West” until the in- terwar years. She discussed issues such as the sexual virtue of black Mary Church Terrell. Courtesy of the Library of women, their unequal access to quality education, and the discrim- Congress, LC-USZ62-54722 ination professional blacks faced in employment opportunities. The 97500102 Biog. File, closing remarks of Terrell’s speech captured the hope and deep Terrell, Mary, Church. dedication to the struggle for gender and for racial equality that lay 1 Mary Church Terrell, African Americans’ atti- Missionaries in Colonial Colored Woman in a White tudes towards the Africa, 1900 — 1939 World (Washington DC, “redemption” of Africa, (Stuttgart, 2015); and 1940), 204. For readings see Gail Bederman, Michele Mitchell, “‘The on debates about civili- Manliness and Civiliza- Black Man’s Burden’: zation, progress, and so- tion: A Cultural History African Americans, Im- cial Darwinism and its of Gender and Race in the perialism, and Notions of intersection with black United States, 1880-1917 Racial Manhood 1890– middle-class respectability (Chicago, 1995); Elisabeth 1910,” International Re- politics, racial uplif ideol- Engel, Encountering view of Social History ogy, and, by extension, Empire: African American 44 (1999): 77-99. CALLAHAN | MARY CHURCH TERRELL 93 at the heart of her international work: “If I have succeeded at inter- esting just a few women outside of North America in the fi ght that the colored woman is waging in the United States … then my mission here in Berlin will be happily fulfi lled.”2 Terrell’s ability to explain in German and French the kinds of racist and sexist barriers that threat- ened African American women’s progress earned her a standing 2 Mary Church Terrell, “Die Fortschritte der farbigen ovation. German feminists who had enthusiastically anticipated the Frauen,” in Der Internationale arrival of “die Negerin” (the Negress) from the United States were Frauen Kongreß, Berlin 1904, ed. Marie Stritt, 567-73 impressed with the performance of this “rare, colored bird,” as Terrell (Berlin, 1905); I am using the referred to herself.3 Terrell’s speech made headlines in Germany, translation provided by the editors Kathryn Sklar, Anja France, Norway, and Austria, all of which subsequently requested Schüler, and Susan Strasser 4 more information on America’s racial dilemma. in Social Justice in the United States and Germany: A Dia- logue in Documents, 1885- Mary Church Terrell successfully wove the mission of the black 1933 (Ithaca, 1998), 115. The conference preceedings of the women’s club movement into the agenda of a predominantly 1904 International Council white and predominantly transatlantic women’s organization of Women congress in Berlin, Germany are available and the broader European public. The overwhelmingly positive online: https://ia800204.us. reception Terrell received before a European audience marked archive.org/26/items/ derinternationa00fraugoog/ the international sphere as a fruitful site for African American derinternationa00fraugoog.pdf women’s pursuit of gender and racial equality in the United States. 3 Terrell, Colored Woman in a In some ways, the reception was reminiscent of Europeans’ ardent White World, 198. support (especially in Great Britain) of American abolitionists in the 4 Terrell, “Die Fortschritte der nineteenth century. Though organizations such as the International farbigen Frauen,” 115; “Bilder Council of Women did not extend membership to individuals, on rare vom Internationalen Frauen- Kongress 1904,” Die Woche, occasions, African American feminists were invited to give lectures at June 1904, 22. German- international women’s conferences. Terrell and others seized these language newspaper adver- tisement announcing Mary opportunities to share the “good news” of the rapid progress African Church Terrell’s participa- American women had attained in all realms of society despite the tion in the congress in Mary Church Terrell Papers, Box 14 obstacles that stood in their way. Notable anti-lynching supporter Folder 270; Manuscript Division, Moorland-Spingarn Ida B. Wells may have put it best af er her lecture tour in Europe Research Center, Howard in 1893: “My trip abroad had shown me more clearly than ever the University. Mary Church 5 Terrell’s lecture at the ICW necessity of putting our case before the [European] public.” Congress continues to be viewed as an important con- This essay of ers a reconsideration of Mary Church Terrell through tribution to Berlin history, as well as German-American the lens of her European activist endeavors. Black women’s activism transatlantic dialogue. See Ingo abroad emerged at the juncture of complex domestic and interna- Juchler, Amerikaner in Berlin: Der historische Reiseführer tional issues including Jim Crow discrimination, the rise of inter- (Berlin, 2016), 18–19. national labor organizing, woman’s suf rage, U.S. imperial ef orts in 5 Michelle Rief, “Thinking the Philippines, scientifi c racism, colonialism, and claims to national Locally, Acting Globally: The citizenship. A close examination of Terrell’s 1904 Berlin appearance International Agenda of African American Clubwomen, sheds light on the ways domestic concerns and debates regarding 1880–1940,” Journal of racial and gender inequality informed African American feminists’ African American History 89, no. 3 (2004): 203-22, 205. agenda within transnational women’s groups. 94 GHI BULLETIN SUPPLEMENT 13 (2017) New Women’s Women’s International Women in Social The Transatlantic Introduction Biography Networks Movements Exchange of Knowledge The emergence of transatlantic feminist organizing at the end of the nineteenth century provided leading feminists of the North Atlantic an opportunity to establish a more permanent transnational dialogue. 6 Leila Rupp, Worlds of For them, forging an international sisterhood was one strategy for Women: The Making of an International Women’s overcoming the challenges that confronted their sex. Holding regular Movement (Princeton, 1997). women’s conferences in locations as diverse as Paris, London, Zurich, Although literature on feminist transnational or- and Washington DC made feminist transnationalists visible players ganizing has focused pri- on the international scene. But practicing international sisterhood marily on the post-World War I era, scholars who proved to be dif cult, particularly when it came to matters involving use the long nineteenth race. African American women’s participation in the early transna- century as historical context for later developments in tional women’s movement of en challenged white leaders to live up the transnational women’s movement of en include to the great principles the ICW and other organizations claimed to little on the involvement uphold. Yet, up to now, African American feminists’ contributions of African American women. See Harriet Alonso, have remained nearly invisible in scholarship on fi rst-wave transna- Peace as a Women’s Issue: 6 tional feminist organizing. A History of the U.S. Move- ment for World Peace and Women’s Rights This essay is part of a larger project that explores the career and net- (Syracuse, 1993); Carrie works of Mary Church Terrell, an African American feminist promi- Foster, The Women and the Warriors: The U.S. Section nent on the international stage, as a window into the international of the Women’s Internatio- activism of African American women. First, I will place Terrell in her nal League for Peace and Freedom, 1915–1946 local and global contexts. Next, I will examine Terrell’s participation (Syracuse, 1995); and at the International Council of Women’s Congress