our herstory

Heroine Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, the first black member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC). Josephine was born in Boston and devoted her life to African-American women’s rights. She assisted in the formation of the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. While committed to the rights of all women, Mrs. Ruffin worked zealously to address the double jeopardy of racism and sexism experienced by women of color. She organized the National Federation of Afro-American Women, convening the first national conference in Boston, and assisted with establishing the NAACP in 1910.

Mrs. Ruffin, a member of The New England Women’s Press Association, became the first African-American woman to publish a newspaper, The Woman’s Era, which focused on the rights and achievements of black women. The League of Women for Community Service, a Boston group she helped co-found in 1918, is still active today, assisting families-in-need in black communities.

The early years of GFWC excluded African-American clubs from its membership, and many white clubs during the late 1800s excluded black women as well as Jewish women from membership. However, since the only requirement to join the Federation was to mail your club name and pay the registration fee. The assumption was that if you did, you were a white organization, and your credentials were sent to you in the mail. In 1900, the GFWC met in Milwaukee; Josephine tried to attend as a representative of three Boston organizations – the New Era Club, the New England Woman’s Club, and the New England Woman’s Press Club. Southern women led by president Rebecca Douglas Lowe, a Georgia native, told Ruffin that she could be seated as an honorary representative of the two white clubs but would not seat a black club. A White member attempted to snatch Josephine’s credentials but was unsuccessful. She was told to either sit as an honorary member or leave. She refused on principle and was excluded from the proceedings. These events became known as "The Ruffin Incident" and were widely covered in newspapers nationwide, most of which supported Ruffin. The GFWC fought for two years to exclude Black Women and finally were outvoted by White members who fought alongside Black Women in the Suffrage Movement, paving the way for Black Membership. But Josephine and others chose to form other Black organizations and moved on. Fast forward to 2020, GFWC Sisters of Service Woman's Club, Inc. was born. 

In 2020, our founding president, Vanessa J. Moore, had a vision while recovering from COVID-19: to create a group of volunteers consisting of women from all walks of life to assist and support our community in the midst of a Pandemic. She researched non-profit organizations and found that Leon County had over 350 registered non-profit organizations. Still, due to the quarantine, only 1/4 of these organizations were actively working, supporting, and helping individuals. With food security, domestic violence, depression, and mental health challenges at an all-time high, Vanessa felt she and others who were passionate about helping others were desirous to volunteer where help was desperately needed.

At that time, Vanessa was a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) via the Junior Woman’s Club of Tallahassee since 2016, serving as Vice-President. Like most organizations, her club and other clubs and organizations had gone dark due to virus quarantine engagement limitations. But when people need help, you find a way to help.

Vanessa reached out to her family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances from her Non-profit arena. She shared her vision to create a new women’s club under the General Federation consisting of diverse women who wanted and were willing to step in where humanity needed.

By phone, text, and email, Vanessa recruited 24 Women within a 30-day period who were ready and willing to jump ahead.

These women accomplished so much in such a short period that on May 31, they had officially organized and voted Vanessa as their Charter President. She served a 3-year term until 2023 when she immediately stepped in as Community Service Program (CSP) Chair. She was always willing to help any committee to ensure the success of any community service project and fundraising activities.

Vanessa is also the founder of Teach Them Well, Inc. (TTW), a non-profit organization that provides life skills training to at-risk children in grades K-12. She brought the Sisters of Service Woman’s Club and TTW together and was awarded a $25,000 grant to provide the training.

In the first 3 years of existence, the Woman’s Club averaged almost 400 hours a year of community service. The GFWC Sisters of Service Woman’s Club became the 1st predominantly black and women of color club in the US and Florida since Josephine Ruffin.