Person:Florence Jackson (29)

1922 Florence Lee co-founded the Lit-Mus Study Club in Buffalo, NY. Derived from a contraction of the terms literature and music, the Lit-Mus Study Club’s name symbolizes its mission, “to study history, sociology, civic, literature, music, and any other subject chosen to improve our community and to promote sociability among our members.” Co-founders were Amelia Anderson, her sister-in-law Ora Lewis Anderson, and Florence Lee. The group started with a nucleus of 21 women. Soon after, the club became an affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and its New York State counterpart, the Empire State Federation of Women’s Clubs, thereby adopting as its motto, “Lifting as we climb.” The Lit-Mus Study Club has strived to increase access to literature by African Americans and has donated books to schools and libraries. One of the most notable achievements of the club is that it introduced the observance of Negro History Week to the Buffalo community in 1928. Among its other accomplishments is the co-sponsorship of the Carter G. Woodson Speaking Contest held annually in February. The club supports numerous local charities and has a fund that awards scholarships to local students. The Lit-Mus Study Club holds the distinction of being the oldest active affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women’s clubs in the city of Buffalo and continues a tradition of service to the community that spans more than three quarters of a century.

2001 Florence Lee and the Lit-Mus Study Club were honored by “Uncrowned Queens ... African American Women Community Builders of Western New York.” Her granddaughter, Lisa B. Lee, gave a short speech accepting the award. The event was held June 10, 2001 at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo, NY.

12/5/01 - Per email from Charlotte Outlaw-Yorker at Pratt Institute, “In researching your grandmother’s attendance at Pratt Institute, I have found that she attended from 1906-1908. Dressmaking was her course of study. In the early years of Pratt, there were no transcripts only attendance books.”

1. ↑ Buffalo State Hospital, on Forest Avenue