The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994 Page: 5
754 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Other Texas 5
Because racial minority groups were excluded from Anglo benevolent,
fraternal, and occupational societies, they formed organizations to serve
their own communities. After emancipation at the end of the Civil War,
black benevolent societies appeared in Galveston, Houston, and other
towns as ex-slaves also sought to care for their "aged, infirm, indigent,
and sick." Ministers and craftsmen, including legislator Richard Allen,
formed these groups. Through the first half of the twentieth century,
during the period of segregation, the African American community con-
tinued to form its own orphans' homes, hospitals, and homes for women
and the elderly, with women's groups and fraternal organizations as
prominent supporters. Mexican Americans also formed benevolent soci-
eties or mutualistas in San Antonio and other towns beginning in the
187os to assist the families of members who faced illnesses, burial costs,
or economic crises.10
The depression of the 187os created destitution among many Anglo
Texans as well as the immigrant and minority communities of the state.
Early hopes that the economic problems would be temporary changed
to concern as time passed without real recovery. The editor of the Dallas
Herald wrote of "sickness and extreme poverty in parts of our city," and
sought to bring together "worthy cases" with "responsible citizens" will-
ing to help. Businessmen like Alexander Sanger and their wives orga-
nized a "Grand Charity Ball" for the "relief of the poor" in January
1877.11
The depression also stirred women to form benevolent religious
groups that offered assistance for poor members of church communi-
ties. The early organization of ladies' aid societies in Texas Episcopalian
and Methodist churches spread to Lutheran and Presbyterian denomi-
nations in the 187os and to the Baptists in the 188os, and came to in-
clude Congregationalists in the 189os. Some women's groups developed
denominational structures beyond the local level-a wider religious
community-to pursue their concerns, such as the Woman's Home Mis-
sionary Society in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During this
period women's groups also recognized the need for new institutions to
address the problems of other women in Texas. The Ladies Charity As-
1872); Worley's Directory of the City of Dallas, 1898 (Dallas: Worley, 1898), 57-63; French Benevo-
lent Society of Galveston, Notebook (Rosenberg Library, Galveston); Dallas German Ladies Aid
Society, Charter and Minute Book (Dallas Public Library).
10 Gammel (comp.), The Laws of Texas, VI, 727-728, VII, 143-144 (quotation), 157-158;
Houston Informer, June 7, Nov. i, 1919, Mar. 12, 1921, Oct. 28, 1922, Dec. 22, 1928, Dec. 19,
1931; Eliza Johnson Home, Charter and Minutes (Houston Metropolitan Research Center,
Houston Public Library): Arnoldo de Le6n, The Tejano Community, x836-i9oo (Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1982), 194-196.
" Dallas Weekly Herald, Dec. 3o, 1876 (4th-5th quotations), Jan. 6 (1st-3rd quotations), 13,
20, 27, 1877.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994, periodical, 1994; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117154/m1/33/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.