"You may furnish us with eggs as soon as possible': Nannie Helen Burroughs and Cooperative Economics in the Great Depression

Utilizing archival records from the Nannie Helen Burroughs Collection at the Library of Congress, this paper explores the intersection between the National Training School for Women and Girls, founded by Burroughs in the nation’s capital, and Cooperative Industries, a woman-centered organization for African Americans founded in 1934 and headquartered at the Training School. Having begun the same year that the school reduced its operations due to the economic crisis, the Cooperative remains distinctive among  similar African-American enterprises during the Depression years in that it was established by African American women, primarily served the needs of  black women and operated under the auspices of a private school for African-American females. Like the school, the Cooperative  mirrored Burroughs’ principles of self-help, skilled training and empowerment for black working-class women. And yet the Cooperative has merited scant scholarly attention. Organized by Burroughs and Sadie Morse Bethel, the Cooperative began with 400 members drawn largely from unemployed, female laborers and homemakers with a yearly income between $500 and $1,000. The NTS provided the Cooperative use of its chapel, dining room, kitchen, club room and four classrooms. The school also offered educational classes and published a cooperative newspaper called The New Challenge. The Cooperative’s sewing unit had the largest membership in Washington, with 55 women who represented 56 families including 226 children. Cooperative Industries, through its use of the Training School’s physical space and resources, thus proved an extension of Burroughs’ pedagogical investment in black women’s educational, economic and social well-being.