The Denver Star

              I
SUPPLE
THE   DENY
CONVENTION ISSUE AND FED'
STAR
MRS. GERTIE N. ROSS OF DENVER,   STATE   PRESIDENT.
Mrs. Gertie Nichols-Ross is the State
President of the Federation of the
Women's Clubs of Colorado and Jurisdiction. She is also President of the
Y. W. C. A. Organist for more than
15 years at Shorter A. M. E. Church;
Organist Junior Choir and ex-Chairman of House Committee and former
•director of the Negro Women's Club
Home and Day Nursery. Member of
the Taka Art Club.
MRS. ELIZA ROLLINS B'JTLER
OF COLORADO SPRINGS, HONORARY    STATE   PRESIDENT   AND    A
.    ,AN    i. ...ATiCSt -ViOiC'iv      V»Ao
FIRST COLORED GRADUATE OF
COLO. SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOLS.
LOVED   AND   HONORED   BV   ALL   .
Western Spirit
of Welcome
To our Friends and Visitors
-<<
MRS. THENIS B. STEWART—ONE
OF THE BEST CLUB WORKERS IN
DENVER. EX-PRESIDENT OF THE
XX  CENTURY  ART  CLUB.
The English language, with its wealth of expression and fascinating words, affords none more replete with the higher, nobler and
better impulses of the human heart than the simple unpretentious
word, "Welcome." It quickens the footsteps of the dust-begrimed and
weary traveler, soothes the bruised and bleeding heart of the returning prodigal, and illuminates the pathway of the son of battle, whether
he returns to the bosom of his loved ones laden with the spoils of
victory or bowed down in the humiliation of defeat. It is the synonym
for hospitality, and finds its most eloquent expression in the out-
streched hand, the sparkling eye and parted lips. In its finest and
most sincere sense, and echoing the sentiment of The Denver Star,
and those of us who have found peaceful homes and contentment in
the shadow of the snow-capped range of the Rockies, we say unto
you, "Welcome, our sisters, thrice welcome."
We feel sure that your coming in our midst will be an inspiration
a keystone as it were, completing a triumphal arch of unity, cemented
with the sentiments of love, charity and benevolence, for embodied
in the practical application of these virtues, we can feel sanguine
that our hopes, our struggles, and higher aims were not in vain.
When we are privileged to meet each other in the cause and
purpose that brings you to our door, we thank God for this special
blessing, and desire to express our gratitude and warmest appreciation, in your selection of this—the Queen City of mountain and plains
—for your Convention. Where the blue sky, perpetual sunshine, and
the rare atmosphere will lend an enchantment to the scenes of your
endeavors, and enable you to delve deep into the year's work" under
the most pleasing conditions.
Our hearts and our homes are open to you, and while we fully
understand that a large portion of your time will be taken up with
the business of the Association, it is our sincere purpose to make every
one of your spare moments an enjoyable one, that when you have
returned to your several homes, that the days spent here may ever
remain bright spots on memories page.
We are deeply interested in all that the National Federation stands
for, the good it has done, the greater good it hopes for, and we feel
sure, that at the close of this session, we will be proud of your accomplishments. There is much to be done for the betterment of our future condition, and a large portion of this duty is imposed upon you,
in the adjustment, and enactment of new laws for our guidance. This
we know will be. in capable hands, and we are certain of good results.
T* cannot be done.'however, w'tnont t. ^rugrerlp. but if it brines bad,
one waynard urother whose wanderitu,; footsteps has led aim mto
the darkness of sin, if it plants the see<j <*| charity where selfishness
has found a friendly soil, and inspirri virtue where sensual vices
at«p.. i* vail be a sufficient reward for ^    4,.?„i.  ,.« •     existence.
"in thl pa^s »f uus i«sue you ** be pleased with the many
homes and places of business that are featured, which will carry with
them a meaning of great sacrifice and deprivation, but an indomitable
will to survive and prosper has orought this into an actual existence.
We are proud of the effort f& accomplishment, and we are sure of
your like appreciation. * wil1 stand out for all times as a monument to humble thrift ^ld economy and an earnest endeavor to be a
part and parcel of **e world we live in-
We are t-^ay m the midst of a world's war, and we thank God
that our >^s are resP°ndmS to the call of duty, fighting and willing
t   fi£rh^^ tne cause °t freedom and Democracy.   This establishes an
j^*ronal  standard of true Americanism, and proves our loyalty to
rr country and to the flag.   Let us lend our encouragement to those
who are summoned to the front, confident that they will give a good
account of themselves.
To inspire the duty of patriotism in the hearts of those, who voluntarily have consented to sacrifice their lives for the country's cause,
becomes an imperative duty of yours and ours, and we sincerely hope
that ere your Convention closes, that you, the mothers, wives, and sisters of our brave lads, will rekindle the fire of love of country, freedom and home, that has been steadily burning from the days of Crispus
Attuck to this present era.
This spirit has ever been our hope and will continue to live and
breathe and grow, as long as there is a tender sentiment in the
human heart, as long as men remain men and they have bodies to
die and souls to live. And in the end forebearance will triumph over
intolerance, and all men of all classes will join in paeons of praise,
and be eternally linked in brotherhood no human agency can dismember or destroy.
President Mary B. Talbert of New York City.
Denver has been highly honored by having in our presence the delightful personality of Mrs. Mary B. Talbert, the National President whose great
success and many sacrifices have easily made her so big in the eyes of the
club women of the Nation that she has no real substantial opposition. Her
congenial manner and wide influence make her a lovable character and a
pleasing presiding officer. Her reelection is almost assured. The western
delegates are true and loyal and Denver knows that they will show their
loyalty.
Mme. M. L. Elliston earned b<
as a Chiropodist thru a long,
and complex delays filled with
anxious moments, discouraging
with a now and then ray of w
of success.   Having mastered h
fession, only after she was led
thru her sale of medicines whic!
pelled her to study the humat ,(
if she really wanted  to  be  s   .  *'
ful and prosperous.    She studife;''~ ^
took the examination from th^ \\.?r\\.
cal   Board   of   State   Examine-\, aa(j
passed very creditably.   Her pus., m£
determined   purpose  for   succe
made a deep impression upon tlit
munity.
The strong, growing and prosperous
Carnation Art Club, sometimes affectionately referred to as the "Miracle
Club" of Denver, came into being the
same  year  as  the   Self-Improvement
Club.    Unlike the latter organization,
however, for years it had a varied and
uncertain career.    Bravely fighting on
and nothing daunted it weathered the
perilous   seas  until  three  years  ago,
when Mrs. Ada Webster was elected
its President.    From that date it has
wrought miracles.   When the Club Association idea was being fostered the
. Carnation Arts stepped to the fore and
I said  they  were  ready   to   do   "their
I bit.' With an almost depleted treasury
, President Webster started out to raise
their   share  of  the  purchase   money
and   in   exactly   one   year   and    six
months they paid in every dollar on
their stock.    Perhaps no club in the
West is given to Charity work to the
extent  of  the  Carnations.    The  real
special effort of this Club is art work
and no slackers are permitted within
its ranks.   Indeed, each of the twenty
members vie with one another iu th»
effort to turn out work of exceptional
beauty and attractiveness.    They are
members  of  the  National  Federation
and   will  be  no   small  factor  in  the
great conclave to meet in Denver July
8th.     The   Club   colors   are   red   and
white.    Mrs. Emma Moore, an estimable lady of energy and push, is Secretary of the club and a most valuable
co-worker to Mrs. Webster.
Some ships sail East and some sail West, by the self-same winds that
blow, 'tis set of the sail and not the gale, that determines the way we go.
Like the winds of the sea, are the forces of fate, as we travel along through
life, 'tis the set of the soul that determines the goal and not the calm or the
strife."
A   triumvirate   of   Club   women   in
1911  at  Colorado  Springs, conferring
at the gate.    Star was on the job.
Madame C. J. Walker, of New York City, started in Denver to the dizzy
heights of success to which she has attained. This lady set first to the tape
that burns the mortgage on the Frederick Douglass Home at Anacostia,
Maryland, near Washington, D. C. Since leaving Denver she has "enlarged
her world" to take in Africa, the isles of the sea and other foreign parts of
the world. She stands today as the richest Negro in America, and she
made it all herself. Those of us who heard Madame Walker say in our
literary at Shorter "I shall return to this society and make you who laugh
now, ashamed of your laugh."   And she did.   "Dux femina facta sunt."
Madame C. J. Walker, Patriotic Sympathetic, Economical, Charitable
and Sagaciously Commercial.
flNA FORD
Dr.  Justina   Ford,  the only
physician of color in the Wes'
has made good along all lind§
a heavy investor in stocks, cd|i
real   estate.     Her   large   praeui!
ables her to come closely in o
with   live   social  conditions   of
patients   of   the  Latin  and   Japljnese
races.   She enjoys the highest refjpect
of the medical fraternity and has'been
honored more than once, whenever opportunity affords itself.    She is an ob
serving   student   of   humanity.     The
West  is  proud  of our  woman  physi
cian.
Miss Mary White Ovington, Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will be
in attendance at the Convention of the National Association of Colored
Women to be held in Denver, July 8 to July 13, inclusive. Miss Ovington
will speak during the session on July 11.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has
'ust completed a drive for members as a tribute to the National President
of the Association, Mr. Moorefield Storey, the distinguished Boston lawyer.
The tribute given Mr. Storey in the unique form of a drive for members
for the Association Was occasioned by the winning last November by the
unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court of the so-called
Louisville Segregation Case, the Supreme Court in that case deciding that
all ordinances for the purpose of segregating Negroes in separate residential sections in cities of the country are unconstitutional.
^BPAssociation announces that on April 15 it had approximately 10,000
^^Kers in the country as a whole.   At the present time, as a result of the
j irive, the Association's membership has increased to approximately 35,000,
luted among  117  active branches located in all the principal cities
Wintry, from Boston on the east to Sa:i Francisio and Los Angeles
i - p-v*1 ^nd Minreaoolis ;.n the ner£h t'aJljnx^i»pa  and
I Texas lines in the sOni.ii>->.^ u..^, -duv*   ...vii vue urrtnchUn the Panama
Canal %$ne. )
f*\ m^b Ovington was one of the three founders of the        ociation which
:. ^ 1 dates lom 1909.    Her interest m the uplift Of colored p , ** been cqp-
'/rllinuous  from that time onward.    At the  time of the Association's  origin
(■**m Miss Ovington had been for four years studying the sttw.us of the Negro
ff in New York and was living in a model tenement in the Negro section of
the ?ity, the only white person in the block
of the Greenpoint, N. Y., Settlement, is now the President of the Lincoln
Ssettlement for Colored People, Brooklyn, N. Y., and is author of two volumes dealing with the Negro, "Half a Man," and "Hazel." In her study of
Race problems Miss Ovington has spent many months in out of the way
places in the rural South and in the West Indies. She is the direct descendant of a New England Abolition family.
The Association is engaged in an active campaign against lynching and
mob violence, against discrimination of all kinds on account of color and
against disfranchisement in the Southern States. The Association is deeply interested in the welfare of the colored soldiers, is promoting the War
Savings Stamp campaign among colored people, and expects soon to engage in some specific form of War Camp Community Service throughout
the country. The Convention feels itself honored in having the presence
of such a distinguished person to be a part of the working convention machinery.
MISS BEATRICE LEWIS.
Miss Beatrice Lewis of 2339 Gilpin
St., Denver's only progressive Cons«»
maker, is a.typical We^'u pirl ^Jf*,'
 girl. "%WB|I     ii
maker, is a.typical
Have made great record in Colorado.
Mrs. Nellie Rice.    President of that
progressive   XX   Century   Art   Club.
MRS. GERTRUDE MOORE.
Mrs. Gertrude M. Moore of Hot
Springs, Ark., altho away from the
Queen City, still claims "Old Denver"
as her home. She has gone away from
our city and state and has made good
in Hair dressing, Beauty Culture, Hair
weaving and Scalp treatment. Hotels
in Minneapolis, Minn., and Hot Spgs.,
Ark., vie with each other in trying to
secure her valuable service, polite
treatment and efficient business which
she brings to any hotel. To seiure
her means to increase their business.
MADAME   A.   M.  SKILLERN.
For nearly twenty-five years Madame A. M. Skillern has held a most
distinctive and unique place in fashionable Denver as the only Modiste
of the race, and what is more important, she classes among her customers
many of the wealthiest and most influential white citizens in the city.
In the most pronounced sense of
the word, Madame Skillern is an artist of rare merit and on social functions of either race is ever complete
without a bevy of handsome gowns
from the hands of this gifted lady.
Originality in design, neatness and
tastefulness, characterize her every
creation. When Madame E. Azalia
Hackley was on her farewell tour
some years ago, she took much pride
in telling her audiences that her rich
appearing and greatly admired gowns
were designed and made by Madame
Skillern. This brought a flood of letters from the fashionable and effete
East asking for the services of this
estimable lady, but she chose to cling
to Denver with her multitude of
friends. The many talents of Madame
Skillern are beautifully attested by a
superb article contributed to the newspapers some years ago on "Modes and
Dressing of Stylish Women." In the
clearest and most forceful manner
possible she dealt with the Oriental
fashions, the Josephine and Empress
era, as well as the Dutch, Greek and
Parisian modes. At one time she was
a demonstrator of Malt-Nutrine in the
Forbes and Stromberg Drug Store,
then the largest in the city. Of a
pleasing personality, loyal and dependable in her friendships, broad in
her charities and hospitable almost
to a fault, Madame Skillern is readily
classed as one of the most valuable
women in Denver. She owns a beautiful home of Milwaukee cream brick,
at 1904 E. 29th Ave., the interior of
which readily bespeaks the artists
nunu and the master hand.
HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT STATE
FEDERATION    OF    COLORADO
AND JURISDICTION.
Mrs. Charlotte Ensley, founder.
Mrs. Ida Joyce Jackson, first state
president; Mrs. Martha Spratlin, second; Mrs. L. M. Froman, third; Mrs.
E. B. Butler, fourth; Mrs. Mary H.
Baker, fifth; Mrs. Dorcas Watson,
sixth, and Mrs. Gertie N. Ross, seventh. It has 31 active Clubs, with a
membership of 500.
ver girl coming, as she did, at the
age of six years and in the usual required time completed with honor our
city public schools. Desiring to add a
p:Wt-iat^g to > jfc-edueatUjm she finish
ed Dressmaking in a school of .Urto*-
making and received her diploma from
the Madame, who personally instruct-
,,     a't u„nA*,Tnr.\mr-  f ed her because of her adaptability to
She was the first headworker  | T f »   ™
one yya=, i the profession.    Knowing that art of
any country reflected the general character of the country, Miss Lewis thot
that some real art was the offspring
of the superlative in ideals and accomplishment. Being engrossed with
this idea, she suddenly sprang out
of the masses of the Denver folk
with a new idea to give humanity
something of ease and beauty to make
life more bearable and ennobling.
An opportunity presented itself to
learn something more unique, the art
of corset-making, to give poise and
dignity to the members of her race,
and she embraced it. We know of
no corset makers of color (not cor-
sitieres) in the United States, except
our Western girl.
Miss Lewis' work speaks for itself,
her models and designs being perfect.
Her patronage is among the best
classes of the white and colored, who
are her regular patrons. Busy all the
time, yet she finds time to teach in
Sunday School at Shorter Chapel, and
is one of the best workers in the Y.
W. C. A., ably assisting the president
in conducting a class of Rainbow
Group girls. Fraternal Societies and
charity work also claim her attention.
Miss Lewis is a good example of the
possibilities of the West.
HISTORY    OF     THE     TWENTIETH
CENTURY ART AND LITERARY
CLUB.
On September 11, 1911, ten ladies
met at the home of Mrs. C. H. Winters, 3063 Welton St., and organized
what is known as the XX C. Art Literary and Charity Club.
Its colors being black and green
and gold.
Our first president was Mrs. Laura
Hill.
Secretary,   Mrs.   Maud   Curr.
Corresponding Sec, Mrs. Carrie
Bodenhamer
Mrs. S. P. McBeth, Treasurer.
Mrs. Vera Finney, Chairman of Program Committee.
As these industrious women continued their good work more and more
joined them until the number now is
twenty-two.
Two successive years this Club won
the State Banner for the best assortment of Art work.
It has paid out more than five hundred dollars ($500)  for charity work.
Its first study in literary work was
Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Its second
was the life of Phillys Wheatly. Third,
miscellaneous. At present time its
topic is music.
When the great and grand movement of a Negro Woman's Club Association was organized the Twentieth
Century Art Club had fostered the
idea of a Day Nursery, and heartily
co-operated with the other clubs in the
Association, and now the Club women
of Denver have a Day Nursery which
is a credit to Denver. Under the leadership of Mrs. Nellie M. Rice, who is
our present president, these energetic
women are climbing to the stars
through difficulties.
MRS. MARTHA SPRATLIN OF
DENVER, HONORARY EX-PRESIDENT OF THE STATE. PIONEER
BUILDER.
MRS. L. M. FROMAN OF DENVER,
HONORARY STATE PRESIDENT, IS
VERY ACTIVE IN RELIGIOUS, CLUB
AND TEMPERANCE CIRCLES.
THE   POND   LILLY   ART   CLUB.
POND LILLY ART CLUB was organized May 7, 1904, with fourteen
members.
Having only three Presidents, Mrs.
Waldron, Mrs. N. L. Douglass serving
ten years, Mrs. Callie Campbell serving three years; other officers giving
good service to club.
Meet each Thursday. Open with
Scripture reading, roll call, members
responding with Bible quotations and
dues.
First Thursday in the month Literary Day.
Fifth Thursday, Domestic Science
Day.
Mrs. N. L. Douglass, Secy.; Mrs.
Lula Jackson, Treasurer and Chairman
of Ways and Means.
Mrs. Malida Jacobs, Chairman of
Charity.
Mrs. Minnie Williams, Chairman of
Program.
Mrs.  Augustavia Carriss, Teacher.
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