A to Z Challenge Theme REVEAL – 2021

A to Z 2021, Investigations, Montgomery Alabama, One Place Study

Unidentified young women from my grandparent’s photo album. I believe the one on the left is Madeline Abercrombie, based on a newspaper photograph of her several months before her death in 1973. More about that on the A post.

In 2018 I did a series of posts for the A to Z Challenge based on articles taken from The Emancipator, an African American newspaper published by my cousin in Montgomery Alabama around 1920. I mentioned the Edelweiss Club in several posts.

Who were the members of the Edelweiss Club?  Thirty seven women attended the monthly meetings judging from news items that appeared in The Emancipator, starting January 12, 1918 and continuing monthly until  May 3, 1919. Some of the women were members and some were guests and not all were present at every meeting. Thirty of them were teachers. One was a seamstress. Three worked in family businesses.  The other three did not have employment and were relatives of members. Most of the members were single, some married as time went on. Some moved out of town.  A good number never married.

All of them came from literate homes. Most of their parents owned their homes, some free and clear, some mortgaged. Their fathers tended to work for themselves as barbers, carpenters and plasterers. Bertha Loveless’ father was an undertaker. Madge Brown’s father was a farmer. Alberta Boykin’s father was a mail carrier. Several lived with their widowed mother or an aunt.  Most had multiple siblings.

Their parents were born in the mid 1850s to the  1870 so they would have been teenagers when slavery ended or were born during Reconstruction.

There were no more reported meetings after May 3, 1919.

There were 37 young women who attended the club meetings, more than enough for 26 “A to Z” posts. This year I will present the lives of some of those women as my A to Z theme. This will be my ninth year participating in the A to Z Challenge.

39 thoughts on “A to Z Challenge Theme REVEAL – 2021”

  1. Look forward to reading along and learning why Edelweiss and why it all came to an end in May 1919

    Great to have company for another year

    1. I didn’t solve the mystery of the name! I would have to find a letter or journal with that tidbit of information.

  4. Look forward to reading about something I had no knowledge of – and it looks well organised and planned out already! Good luck.

  6. This is fascinating, Kristin. What a feat, to have tracked down so many members of this short-lived club and to give us a glimpse into their lives as African American women in Alabama of 100 years ago. So many questions come to mind! I will be following you whether or not I participate in the Challenge this year. All the best!

  9. Added your blog to my feed reader and look forward to your posts, Kristin. This will be my first time participating, though I’ve yet to write my Theme Reveal post.

  10. I really think what you are doing honors these women. I love it and can’t wait to find out more about them.

  11. You have chosen a fitting topic in this era of awareness of the often overlooked role of women in history. I can see a lot of reading coming up this A to Z.

  16. That’s a really great, and original, theme!

    J Lenni Dorner~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author

    1. True, I don’t think anyone else will be doing the members of the Edelweiss Club of Montgomery! If they do, I sure want to meet them. LOL

  18. That’s a lovely theme! So much of history is made by ordinary people, and women’s stories are too often untold in mainstream sources.

  21. Maybe it’s me, but I am having trouble finding your letter A post for A to Z Challenge 2021. Can you please direct me where to find it and the subsequent posts? Plan to visit and leave comments. Many thanks!

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