From Quaker Roots in Social Justice: John T. Emlen and the Establishment of the First “Colored” Boys’ Club, 1903-1913

• In Event: Educating Black Youth: Libraries, Literature, and Clubs

Abstract

In this paper, I will examine the establishment and early history of the first Boys’ Club for African American boys—the Wissahickon Boys’ Club—through the thoughts and actions of its progressive founder, John Thompson Emlen. The purpose of this paper is not only to document the founding of this historic organization, but to describe Emlen’s conception of racial advancement through the implementation of vocation programs within the context of a “colored” Boys’ Club. For Emlen, a wealthy, Quaker, his early work with African American children transformed a life of affluence and leisure to one of a well-connected, Progressive reformer vested in social and economic advancement of African Americans in Philadelphia.

Author

• Carter Julian Savage, Morehouse College