Hour-A-Day Study Club members plan
a cultural evening, Windsor Star 25/03/1957 – photo courtesy
of the McCurdy Collection, Archives of Ontario
Hour-A-Day Study Club
Award Recipients, Windsor Star 9/10/1968 – photo courtesy
of the McCurdy Collection, Archives of Ontario
Founded in 1934 The Hour-A-Day
Study Club was originally called ‘The Mothers’ Club’ This
group of local women began meeting in the home of Ardella Jacobs at
1130
Lillian Street. They soon changed their name to The Hour-A-Day Study
Club. They pledged to study for one hour a day had a tremendous
influence on the community. They also studied the growth and development
of children and began visiting new mothers and presenting them
with baby books.
The members of The Hour-A-Day Study Club became activists in the struggle to
encourage children to achieve in school and support for parents. Over the years
countless numbers of young people have been encouraged and assisted in there
pursuit of quality education. Every year students who excelled in their studies
were selected and received e Hour-A-Day Study Club scholarship awards. The club
also organized many social and cultural events. Annual traditions included the
Parents’ Dinner and Mothers’ Day worship services and the Spring
Musical.
The Club was very active in promoting the rights of young women of colour in
Canada. When young women were being prevented from entering the field of nursing
the Hour-A-Day Study Club wrote to the provincial Minister of Health and the
University of Toronto to help get Black nurses admitted for training there. By
the late 1940s to the early 1950s, Black women gradually began to be accepted
as
nursing
students and to be employed in hospitals in various centres across Canada.
Study Club members also took up relevant causes. They raised funds to hire a
lawyer to represent a local man, Howard Berry Jr., who accused the Windsor Police
of brutality. They also helped plan the Emancipation Day festivities. In 1977
the Club voted to make "Working Together for Community Betterment" their
motto.
Mrs. Eleanor Greene is a long-time
member of the Hour-A-Day Study Club. To view video clips of Mrs. Greene
speaking of the longevity and importance of the club please click here.
List of Founding Members:
Mrs. Samuel Bishop
Mrs. Joseph (Gladys) Browning
Mrs. Minnie Chickee
Mrs. Thomas Christian
Mrs. Daisy Craven
Mrs. Rachel Harding
Mrs. James (Ardella) Jacobs
Mrs. George Lucas
Mrs. Charles G. (Vivian) Nall
Mrs. Alton Parker
Mrs. F.O. (Verna) Stewart
Mrs. Lloyd J. (Elizabeth) Washington
Mrs. Forest S. Watkins
Mrs. Homer Watkins
Mrs. George White
The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.
