Black Women's Organizations

The Mary B. Talbert Civic and Cultural Club

In 1974, Mrs. Carolyn B. Thomas was motivated to found the Mary B. Talbert Civic and Cultural Club when she learned that the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority was renaming the Talbert Mall Housing Project.  Mrs. Thomas called several women, who shared her determination to perpetuate the memory of Mrs. Talbert, to a meeting in her Linwood Avenue home.  In addition to Mrs. Thomas, the charter members of the organization were:  Mrs. Annie Brown, the first President, Mrs. Rhoda Townsend, Mrs. Jannie Davis, Mrs. Ruby Grandberry, Mrs. Mervine Miller, and Mrs. Mary Chappelle.

The club's purpose, "To preserve the noble ideals and good works of Mary B. Talbert through the sponsorship of scholarships and charitable projects which are directed towards the education of our youth and well-being of our total community" has formed the foundation for its work.

In keeping with its mission, the Mary B. Talbert Civic and Cultural Club is an affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women's Club.  Mrs. Talbert was president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs from 1916 to 1920.  The Club literature recounts a notable action taken by Mrs. Talbert during the course of her presidency.  "Mrs. Talbert organized a non-violent march from the Clubhouse to the White House, reportedly the first to be led by a Black woman.  A group of well meaning ladies were planning to erect a statue in memory of the "Negro Mammy" and in protest Mary B. Talbert asked that they use the funds to educate the "Negro Mammy's" children instead."

The Mary B. Talbert Civic and Cultural Club's signature project has been the annual recognition of several outstanding eighth grade students.  Other projects that support the organization's mission are undertaken throughout the year.  For more than a quarter century, The Mary B. Talbert Civic and Cultural Club continued to uphold the ideals of and perpetuate the memory of Mary Burnette Talbert.

Read a Criterion newspaper story about a memorial service held for Mary B. Talbert in 1955.