Loading...
Creator
Adams, Wilhelmina F. (Wilhelmina Ferris), -1987
Call number
Sc MG 37
Physical description
5.8 linear feet
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Wilhelmina F. Adams papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library

Sponsor
The necessary staff and supplies for this collection were made available through a combination of Library, National Endowment for the Humanities grant, and State of New York grant funds.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Civic leader of New York City and a major figure in local Democratic Party activities. Official correspondence, minute books, press releases, photographs, invitations, annual convention and activity programs, printed material, and news clippings, chiefly relating to Adams' participation in various social, political, and civic organizations in New York, including the Aeolian Ladies of Charity, Democratic Club, Friends of the Northside Center, a child guidance center for the prevention of delinquency and maladjustment, Harlem Cooperating Committee on Relief and Unemployment, Harlem Hospital Chaplaincy Committee, Nannie H. Burroughs Philanthropic Club, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, National Committee for the American Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Liberia, National Council of Negro Women, New York State Committee on Discrimination in Housing, New York Urban League, New York World's Fair Committee of Negro Women, and the Utopia Neighborhood Club, a nursery center for small children, as well as several local New York City organizations. Also included are personal papers and memorabilia.

Biographical/historical information

Wilhelmina Ferris Adams, a native Floridian, came to New York City around 1900 when she was three months old. She was educated in the public schools and attended Hunter College.

"Willy" as her friends liked to call her, was considered to be a very beautiful woman. In 1924, she was crowned Queen of the Hotel Tattler's Ball and Beauty Pageant.

Her fund raising talents surfaced around the early 1920s when she served as Vice-President of the Utopia Neighborhood Club for several years and helped to raise the down payment on the Utopia House for underprivileged children. Concerned with Harlem's "forgotten aged", Miss Adams organized the Aeolian Ladies of Charity, Inc. in 1930. Around the same time, she succeeded in bringing Guy Lombardo, world renowned orchestra leader, to Harlem's Savoy Ballroom. She was also chairman of the Finance Committee of the Gibson Committee Relief Fund, which functioned before the advent of public welfare. In that capacity, she became the first black woman permitted the use of a booth in the main arcade of Grand Central Station, a privilege usually reserved solely for the use of Red Cross and American Legion representatives.

During her lifetime, Wilhelmina Adams pursued a number of careers. In 1927 she worked as a fashion expert and interior decorator for D. I. Hess and Company. She was also a florist and over the years operated several shops in various sections of Harlem including West 110th St., West 135th St., and 1925 Seventh Avenue.

For eight years, she worked as a supervisor in the Department of Welfare, resigning in February 1939. A few weeks later she became a Democratic candidate for the Co-Leadership of the 17th Assembly District because she felt that she could best help the black community through political speaking and organizing. In 1939 she was elected Co-Leader of the 14th Assembly District (formerly the 17th A.D., West Side), a post she held for five years. Her political achievements included chairmanship of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Convention and Co-Leadership of the 14th A.D. She also became the first woman to be appointed to the Law Committee of Tammany Hall, although she was not a lawyer. In July 1944, she was the first black woman to be appointed as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Wilhelmina Adams was also one of the organizers of the New York Urban League and worked closely with its first Executive Director, James Hubert.

Several organizations such as the Negro Actors Guild, Inc.; Prince Hall, Chapter #27, Order of the Eastern Star; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and The National Council of Negro Women claimed her as a member. She attended Abyssinian Baptist Church and was an avid supporter of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and the politics of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Wilhelmina Adams never married. She passed away in 1987.

Scope and arrangement

The Wilhelmina F. Adams Papers (1914-1963) reflect primarily her participation in the various organizations of which she was a member. Little information concerning her personal life is included in the collection. The papers consist of correspondence, invitations, programs, printed material and newspaper clippings, which are arranged into two series: PERSONAL PAPERS and an ORGANIZATIONAL FILE.

The Wilhelmina F. Adams papers are arranged in two series:

  • PERSONAL PAPERS
    1921-1962

    PERSONAL PAPERS, 1921-1962, consist of incoming and outgoing correspondence as well as invitations and many miscellaneous programs. A scrapbook and newspaper clippings contain the majority of the biographical data in the collection.

  • ORGANIZATIONAL FILE
    1914-1963

    The ORGANIZATIONAL FILE, 1914-1963, pertains to Wilhelmina Adams' activities within eleven social, political and civic groups in New York, including the Aeolian Ladies of Charity, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council of Negro Women. This series has been arranged alphabetically by organization name. Material on each organization ranges in date and may include correspondence, minute books, press releases, invitations, programs, printed material and newspaper clippings in that order. Each file does not contain every type of material.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Presented by Wilhelmina F. Adams between 1968-1972 (SCM78-23)

Processing information

S. M. Howard/S. E. Davis, 9 May 1979

Separated material

Art and Artifacts

Schomburg Iconographic Collection: (Photographs, prints, film strips, broadsides, circulars, printed ads, motion picture film, and trade catalogs as well as unprocessed tapes and phonodiscs)

Sheet music: WE ARE AMERICANS, TOO, words and music by: Andy Razaf, Eubie Blake and Charles L. Cooke

Periodicals

Alabama, 1953, March 10

The Arts Quarterly (Dillard Univ.), 1937, October-December

The Democratic Digest, 1950, February

Ebony, 1953, February

Jet 1955, August 11

National Association of Colored Womens Clubs, Inc., 1960, July and

1961, Fall-Winter

Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, 1928, December

Responsibility (National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women's Clubs, Inc.), 1953, Spring; 1957, Spring;

1962, Spring

The Voice, 1962, May

Pamphlets/Books

Historic Sites of New York State

This Is New York State

Your Business: A Handbook of Management Aids for the New York

Businessman

372nd Infantry, 1944

Newspapers

The Advance, 1926, August 14; 1929, March 9; 1930, October 11;

1932, July 16; 1932, August 20; 1932, July 23

The Inter-State Tattler, 1931, May 7; 1930, August 1; 1932, June

16, pp 3, 4, 9, 10

The Handy News, Vol. 9, 1955 [?]

Photographs

Bert Williams-autographed, "Sincerely your friend. Bert Williams to Tom"

1. Alone-WFA (includes one original, one copy and one negative)

2. WFA and others (includes one original, one copy and one negative)

3. WFA and Family (includes one original, one copy and one negative)

4. WFA and another woman behind poster of F.D. Roosevelt

5. Woman-unidentified, 1930s [?]

6. Ethel Waters-signed, "Sincerely, Ethel Waters"

7. WFA-white coat

8. Boy-smiling (damaged)

9. Utopia Neighborhood Club, 1923, January 14

10. Twenty-fifth anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1934, March 13

11. Testimonial dinner tendered to Gov. Herbert H. Lehman, the Waldorf Astoria, N. Y., 1943, January 9

12. Grand St. Boys Party to Justice Francis E. Rivers, 1943, December 18

13. Testimonial dinner in honor of the Hon. James W. Johnson, sponsored by the Reveille Club of New York, Hotel Roosevelt, 1944, May 27

14. Testimonial dinner given to Wilhelmina Adams, Woodstock Hotel, 1944, July 7

15. Birthday Testimonial dinner in honor of William Christopher Handy, under the auspices of Negro Actors Guild of America, 1944, November 19

16. The Democratic County Committee of New York County Roosevelt-Truman-Wagner victory dinner, Hotel Commodore, 1945, February

17. Thirtieth award to Paul Robeson, The National Association for Advancement of Colored People, Hotel Biltmore, 1945, October 18

18. Testimonial dinner tendered to Ethel Waters, Park Sheraton, 1950, October 29

19. Citizens Planning Council, dinner in honor of Mrs. Edith Sampson, 1950, October

20. Fourth Annual Conference of the National Council of Negro Women, Y.M.C.A., Newark, N. J., 1952, March

21 National Council of Negro Women, n.d.

22 Same as above.

23. Banquet, New York Club, The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., 1953, June 5

24. Testimonial honoring Silas Frazier Taylor, Sheraton Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts, 1956, December 18

25. Utility Club, Waldorf Astoria, 1957, June 15

Key terms

Names

Subjects

Places

Material types

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor