NOTE TO USERS The appendix is made up of videocassettes and is not included in this original manuscript. It is available for consultation at the author's graduate school library. This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI AE;RICAN BAPTIST WOMEN AS ACTIVISTS AND ADVOCATES IN ADULT EDUCATION IN NOVA SCOTIA by Sylvia D. Hamilton Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Dalhousie University HalZix, Nova Scotia Apd 2000 c. Copyright by Sylvia D.Hamilton, 2000 National Library Bibliothèque naionale 1*1 ofCanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliogmaphiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellingtoh Ottawa ON Kt A ON4 Oaavm ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- t'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Lïbrary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seil reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur foxmat électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Afiican United Baptist Association (AUBAI>an umbreila organktion for Afiican Baptist Churches in Nova Scotiq founded in 1854, is the longest estabiished Black controlled institution in the Afncan Nova Scotian commmity. Meeting the social and educational needs of its members at the same time as fulfilling their spinhial needs the fican Baptist Church has played a signiscant leadership role in the development of Anican Nova Scotim comrnunitïes. Women have been central to this development nom the beginning. Facing severe poverty, racisq unemployment and educational deprivatioq leaders of the Anican Baptist Church at the nan of the twentieth centmy encourageci the development of separate women's and cbildren's organizations as vehicles to prornote education, race consciousness commUnay activism, sociai justice, and spirihial upliff. The AUBA estabfished a Ladies7 Aiariliary in 1917 to organize and coordinate women7swork on a provincial level. Over the next forty years, arnolianes were created in the twenty-two member churches of the AUBA These actnrities coalesced in 1956 when all women's groups within the churches forrned the Women's TIistitute of the Gfncan United Baptist Association Along wiîh the activities noxmally associateci with women's church groups, such as charity and mission work, EcanBaptist women took on the smiggle for racial equaky and community bettement which evolved fiom the unique role the ecan Baptist Church has played in the Nova Scotian comunity. This thesis focuses on the trd-blazing work of the Women's Institute, using a case shidy of their educational projet on violence against women in the Black community to demonstrate how their acîivism fdswithin the hework of aduit education. Such actMties provided learning opportunities otherwise denied to AfXcan NOMScotian women and increased women's agency in community development It is argued that the long standing work of hcanBaptist women at the commmity level is not only about 'charity'; bdamentallyyit is also about educating adult women to the importance of organized, collective efforts to bring about social change that is vital to the survival of Mcan Nova Scotian co~lllllunities- Without the Black Refbgees of the War of 18 12, my ancestors, and the hardworking people of my mother and fàther's genefation, it would not be possiile for me to do this thesis and the other work that I do. It was th& goal to create a society imwhich all people can iive with digniîy. 1 achowledge that 1 am a beneficiary of this work and the sacrifices ofthe early generations of Af?ïcanNova Scotïans. Mmth& earliest presence in Nova Scotia, Afncan people have stnrggied to make a place for themselves, and it is with the greaiest respect that 1 pay tribute to them and thank their guiding spirits. I also want to express sincere thanks to my supervisors, Dr. Margaret Conrad and Dr. Ann Maaicom, for their support and encouragement to complete this thesis. And thanks to my cornmittee members, Dr. Frances Early and Dr. Sue Sherwïn, for their interest in this work, which has taken several years to bring to completion 1 am gratefùl for some £inanCid support received fkom the speciaî scholarship set up in me- of educator Dr. P.A (Tony) Johnstone, who encouragecl me to reach for larger goals, and whose clarity of visioq emphasis on sethg priorities, and good humour were always an inspiration to me. 1have often been asked why 1 decided to go back to university at this stage of my litè, to put myseifthrough such a tirne-consuming process, especiaiiy @en that 1 have had some of my work success~yproduced and published. I was not always sure how to iiI1Swer this question, One sunny afternoon while visiting my eighty-seven year old uncle, 1 found the answer. He was sharing his memories of his grandrnother, my great grandmother, Charlotte Grosse. Charlotte, her daughter Ida Grosse Hamilton, and her dâughter-in-Iaw Marie Waldron Hamilton did not have the opportunities that I had. It was because of their hes and sacrifices - their tramphg the path - that 1 could go to wersity, and 1 feel obligated, for those who foliow me, to make the most of my opportunities. My hdeltthankn and gratitude to my fdy,Bev Greenlaw and Shani Hamilton Greenlaw, and to my sisters, Ada Thompson and Janet DNmniond, who have dways supported and eucou~agedme to complete this work And for bmther Wayn, sister-in-law Rugiatu and nephew Kalifah, thanks for the home away fkom home. 1 am gratefd for the cooperation 1 received ftom the Executive and the Workshop Comminee of the Women's Institute of the Af5ca.n United Baptist Association. Their dedicaîion to the community and to the &can United Baptist Church is an inspiration TabIe of Contents Abstract Achowledgments Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Establiskg a Focus Chapter 2: The AfEcan Baptist Church: A Legacy of Activism Chapter 3 : Conceptualizing Black Women's Activismr Adult Education and Comrnunity Development Chapter 4: A Case Study: "No More Secrets" A Documenîary Film and Workshop Guide on Against Women Page 75 Conclusion Page 95 Endnot es Page 99 Bibiiography page 1 12 Appendm No More Secrets Educational Package page 125 Introduction This study examines McanBaptist women's activities beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a period when there was a general expansion of evangelical churches, especidy Methodist and Baptist, in the Maritime region and continuhg to the present. Women's activitis in these mainStream churches included the development of women's adaries, missionary societies, as well as temperance and other social reform organizations.' While AiGrican Baptist women shared many of these preoccupations, race set them apart fiom th& white "sisters" who did not have to concern themselves with issues of racial exc1usion and discrkbtion. The specific role of women in the acan Baptist Church has not been Myexplored, a fact which underlines the signiscance of tbis mdy. In 1917 the AfEcan United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia (AUBA)passed a resolution calling for the creation of ladies' auxiliaries in all churches of the Association. Over the next forty years audiaries (as weil as other women's groups that took on specific tasks such as missionary support and charity) were created in the twenty-two member churches of the AUBA The ladies' auxdiaries and other women's groups formed an umbrella organization, the Women's Institute of the Alncan United Baptist Association (WI-AUBA), in 1956- StiU in existence, the Women's Institute, and the ladies' adaries thaî proceeded it, are characterized by consistent, codtted social activism on the part of the women who became members of these church-based groups. Their work has been central to the educatioml and social development of Afncan Nova Scotians. 2 Rooted in the ecanBaptist Church tradition, this social activism is bas& upon a particular interpretation of the Christian gospels. Theologian James Cone explains that, ''Anherent in the Christian gospel is the refisal to accept the things that are as the things that ought to be. This 'great refisal' is what maka Chnstianity what it is and thus bfüses in its veq nature a radicaiity that cm never accept the world as it is."' This premise - often interpreted in the twentieth century as the gospel's caU for social justice - has been the underpnning of the Black struggle for eqdty and progressive stniggles everywhere. This thesis argues that Mican Baptist women, through their social activism, have carved out work that is hdamentally adult education in Ïts conception and application Indeed, th& work is integral to the process of social transformation in Nova Scotia7s Bhck corndes. While their work has been and is adult education in the broadest definition of the term - incorporating a mode1 of continuous, or iifelong, leaming taking place beyond formai educational institutions - it has not been previously examineci fiom this standpoint. My interest in this subject brings together my personal and academic lives. Raised and nurtured in the A-fncan Baptist tradition, 1 am a direct beneficiary of the work of church women- This research has ailowed me to rethink and rehemy early He experiences and has fûeled my desire not just to 'do researck' but to participate in and çarsr out research that draws upon my own experiences and tho.se of other African Nova Scotian women It also offers a bistoncal and contemporary context for my varied work which has educational dimensions.