Women’s church societies peaked then declined when merged with male-run groups

Evidence

Beginning in the 1870s all of the Protestant denominations witnessed the emergence of powerful national women’s societies in an auxiliary relationship with the older male-run groups. These societies reached their peak in membership in the 1880s and 1890s, but their autonomous influence began to wane during the early 1900s partly as a result of subsequent merger with the male-run groups and also as a result of the popularity of women’s clubs and the general trend toward secularization of reform activities at the dawn of the new century. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 429

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Women’s church-based organizing pursued separate spaces while remaining dependent on male approval — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 701; Even pro-woman male leaders opposed women forming separate spheres of denominational power — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 707; The black women’s movement grew out of the church’s separate institution-building — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 237 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Women’s church-based organizing pursued separate spaces while remaining dependent on male approval #expands (0.88) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 701
• Even pro-woman male leaders opposed women forming separate spheres of denominational power #expands (0.85) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 707
• Male denominational leaders tried to subordinate autonomous black women’s organizations #corroborates (0.80) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 738
• Women’s organizational self-determination existed within the denomination alongside male boards #qualifies (0.78) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 726
• The black women’s movement grew out of the church’s separate institution-building #exemplifies (0.72) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 237