Nettie J. Asberry papers, 1912-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Asberry, Nettie J., 1865-1968
Title
Nettie J. Asberry papers
Dates
1912-1967
Quantity
.42 cubic ft. (1 box)
Collection Number
1081 (Accession No. 1081-002)
Summary
Papers of Nettie J. Asberry, Tacoma African American activist and president of the Washington State Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Nettie J. Asberry was a music teacher who was born Nettie J. Craig on July 15, 1865, in Leavenworth, Kansas. She earned a degree from the Kansas State Conservatory of Music and later earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. She moved to Seattle in 1890 and relocated to Tacoma in 1893. Following her marriage to Albert J. Jones, who died three years after their move to Seattle, she married Henry Joseph Asberry. In 1908 Nettie Asberry helped found the Clover Leaf Art Club, one of the first African American Women’s clubs in the state. She became a leader in the Washington State Federation of Colored Women’s Organizations and served as its president. The organization was founded in 1917 and was known by various names, including the Washington State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, the Colored Women’s Federation of Washington and Jurisdiction and, in later years, the Washington State Association of Colored Women (and ... Colored Women's Clubs). Asberry was also a founder of the Tacoma Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the Progressive Mothers' Club of Tacoma and the Tacoma Inter-Racial Council. Nettie J. Asberry died in 1968.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Nettie J. Asberry Papers consist largely of photocopied correspondence, bulletins, notes, minutes, and agendas that document the Washington State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The creator's literary rights were not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Photocopies were made from papers loaned by Eliza McCabe in 1969. Additional papers, including the minute book of the Progressive Mothers' Club, certificates, photographs and other material, were donated later in 1969.

Processing Note

Recopying and processing was completed in 1997.

Photographs in the Asberry papers were relocated to the Nettie J. Asberry Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 663, in the repository in 2004.

Separated Materials

A copy of Brown's Prismatic Charts , 1886, was transferred to the Music Library in 1989.

Related Materials

Papers of Nettie J. Asberry are also located at the African American Museum in Tacoma, Washington.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Washington State Association of Colored Women's ClubsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Historical Features
n.d.
1/2
Constitution and By-Laws
1979
1/3
Incoming Letters
1917-1944
1/4
Outgoing Letter
n.d.
1/5-8
Notes, Minutes, and Agendas
1923-1953, n.d.
1/9
Club Journal
1917-1918
1/10
Bulletins
1949-1967
1/11
Cookbook
1922-1923
Speeches and Writings
Box/Folder
1/12
Biographies and Histories
n.d.
1/13
Lyrics
n.d.
Box/Folder
1/14
Miscellany
n.d.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Tacoma BranchReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/15
Constitution and By-Laws
1912
1/16
Outgoing Letter
1941

Progressive Mothers' Club, TacomaReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/17
Minute Book
1926-1929

Tacoma Inter-Racial CouncilReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/18
Newsletters
1944-1945

Personal PapersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/19
Biographical Features
n.d.
1/20
Incoming Letters
1966, n.d.
1/21
Outgoing Letters
1917-1926
1/22
Speeches and Writings
n.d.
1/23
Clippings
1933-1968
1/24
Certificates
1898-1961
1/25
Photocopied Photographs and Other Reproductions
n.d.
1/26
Music Book (Fragment)
n.d.
1/27
Ephemera
n.d.
1/28
Miscellany
n.d.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African American civic leaders--Washington (State)--Archives
  • African American women--Washington (State)--Societies and clubs
  • African American women--Washington (State)--Tacoma--Archives
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Women civic leaders--Washington (State)
  • Women civic leaders--Washington (State)--Tacoma--Archives

Personal Names

  • Asberry, Nettie J., 1865-1968--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Washington State Association of Colored Women
  • Washington State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs
  • Washington State Federation of Colored Women's Organizations

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photocopies