“Lifting as we climb” is the national motto of the oldest organization in America for African American women — the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs Inc. (NACWC) — established 1896 in Washington, D.C.
As NACWC’s reach is far and wide, its Greenville affiliate — the Progressive Art and Civic Club (PACC) — is continuing in its efforts to lift the rising generations this week, specifically, in the name of Lizzie W. Coleman.
In prior years, PACC would organize and host an annual Lizzie Coleman Day program to celebrate her legacy and the invitation would extend to local officials and several others.
The third Sunday in February was designated as Lizzie W. Coleman Day by Mayor Errick Simmons and the City of Greenville.
This year, however, the celebration will take on a different form.
PACC president, Bettye Farmer, acknowledged how different the world is today because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It not only affects us here in Greenville, but all over the world. With that in mind, the Progressive Art and Civic Club has had to redefine and rethink how we would celebrate the life and legacy of the renowned pioneer and educator Lizzie Coleman,” she said. “We want everyone to be safe, but we still want to honor the contributions that Mrs. Coleman made to this community and this state.”
Chairperson for Lizzie Coleman Day, Doris Strange, initiated the idea to honor a Coleman Middle School educator or administrator with what has been named the “Lizzie Coleman Outstanding Educator Award” and what fellow PACC members thought to be a creative idea.
“This year, we are going to ask the faculty at Coleman to select from among themselves a person who actually exemplifies who Mrs. Coleman was in terms of her legacy and education,” Strange said. “It’s a person who exemplifies the character and traits of Mrs. Coleman not only in the classroom with the students, but also as a person.”
PACC members created an application in which a male or female administrator or classroom teacher could self nominate or nominate someone for the award.
This year will mark the second time the award is bestowed in Coleman’s honor.
“When that person is selected, the PACC will present this person with the award and some perks from the community in the name of education,” Strange said. “We thought we would just spotlight someone and that in itself would still be us remembering her and celebrating her which we thought was a wonderful way to do it due to the Covid-19 protocols and restrictions.”
Farmer and Strange regard Coleman as “quite a person” as she played an integral role in the existence of the PACC.
“Well in Mississippi, around 1901, the state brought federation for the NACWC to Mississippi and one of the organizers was Mrs. Lizzie Coleman. However, we didn’t get an affiliated chapter in Greenville until 1957,” Farmer noted. “But it’s interesting to know that Mrs. Coleman was instrumental in bringing the federation of NACWC to Mississippi.”
Strange highlighted that Coleman was inspired by Margaret Washington, the wife of Booker T. Washington, who was also involved in federation.
She believes a southeastern convention of NACWC held in Vicksburg, which both ladies attended, sparked Coleman’s initiative to start the Mississippi Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.
“All of this is under the umbrella of the NACWC,” Strange pointed out, highlighting Harriet Tubman as one of its founders as well.
Other notable figures who were affiliated with NACWC include Mary McLeod Bethune who served as the eight president, Ida B. Wells and Frances E.W. Harper who was also a writer at the time and a founding member.
“And here in Greenville, in addition to our honoring Lizzie Coleman, the PACC is the second oldest club for African American women in Greenville and I’m proud to say that my aunt, Mrs. Mable Crawford, was the sponsor at that time of the Young Women’s group,” Farmer said.
She recalled PACC’s history of bringing many national figures to Greenville over the years as keynote speakers including Eunita Blackwell — the former and first black, female mayor of Mayersville, Dr. Beverly Hogan, former president of Tougaloo College and Principal Joe Clark whom the movie “Lean on Me” is based on.
Keeping in line with its goals, mission and vision of honoring Lizzie Colemman, PACC awards scholarships annually to deserving students in the Greenville area.
“In fact our scholarship is named for her,” Farmer said. “We value her contribution to education in Greenville because she took it upon herself to offer training to teachers.”
On Coleman’s implementation of a teacher mentor program, she added, “Sometimes teachers were not as prepared as they could have been and she would hold sessions in the early years to help teachers become better prepared to reach their students.”
In that same vein, a long-term goal of PACC is to combat the rising teacher shortage by increasing its scholarship dollars for not only students with high academic achievement, but those students who are interested in education as a career.
Farmer reiterated NACWC’s motto and mentioned when it was first established, people of color were not that long removed from 1863 — the year of the Emancipation Proclamation.
“The mission has not changed and at that time, those ladies wanted to help the community and lift people up in the community,” Farmer said. “Today, we still want to do that same thing by lifting our people up educationally, socially, civically and economically.”
