About a 10-minute read, see the attached PDF letter at this link, or listen to this message at this link

Key Takeaways:

  • ABWH is seeding an Endowment Fund by raising $45,000 this 45th anniversary year
  • Give a sustaining life member gift to help us with our conference and to help endow our organization
  • Please give a tax-deductible donation at any level—Benefactor ($1,000+), Patron ($500-$999), Supporter ($200-$499), or Contributor ($1-$199)—online at https://bit.ly/ABWHLifeGift2024 
  • Help us keep our records up to date by updating your information at bit.ly/ABWHMemberUpdate

Dear ABWH Life Member,

In 1979 a group of about fifty Black women met in New York City to organize the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH). We are now more than 300 life members strong and our general membership has grown progressively each year. When you became a life member, you showed that you cared deeply about taking an active role in pushing forward the charter members’ vision to grow ABWH, support its members, and advance the field of Black women’s history.

ABWH has been a space where we marshal our resources as thinkers, writers, and strategists to support those committed to Black women’s history. As we celebrate our 45th Anniversary, we have a unique opportunity to make ABWH stronger, but I need your help. I’m asking you to help push us forward again.

This 45th anniversary year, please consider giving a sustaining life member gift to help us with our conference and to help endow our organization.

We’ve mattered so much as an organization. We revived the ABWH symposium after many decades. The 2018 and 2022 symposia reestablished ABWH’s reputation as the place to hear path-breaking new scholarship and as places to reconnect and recharge—and one of the few spaces curated by Black women historians for Black women historians. Both symposia were so popular that we sold out our hotel block and had a waiting list for registration. Our 2024 ABWH Conference “‘Our Mothers’ Gardens’: The Future of Black Women’s History” promises to be just as if not even more popular. We hope you’ll join us December 5–7, 2024, in New Orleans. The conference will offer a capacious program of exciting panel sessions, professional development workshops, plenaries, and a keynote. At our annual awards ceremony, we’ll recognize winners of the 2024 Brown Memorial Book and Article Prizes for the best works on Black women’s history and the 2024 Hornsby and Houston Prizes for the best unpublished works by undergraduate and graduate students. We’ll also continue the tradition established at our 2022 Legends Luncheon of recognizing pioneering life members who have supported ABWH’s mission across the decades.

ABWH has worked hard to foster public and scholarly awareness of Black women’s history through research, writing, public speaking, and organizing. We have strengthened ties among academics and public historians. We have offered master classes in which top experts have offered our members guidance on publishing, mentorship, and navigating our professional lives. As National Director, I convened two ad-hoc committees this year to recommend strategies for increasing participation in our organization of public historians, including independent scholars and K-12 teachers, and of Diaspora historians, including those living outside of the United States. This fall, we will offer our first research grant for the study of Black Catholic women’s history, seeded through a generous donation from life member Dr. Shannen Dee Williams.

I’m reaching out to life members like you to help us continue and expand our work. In the past, we have relied on annual memberships, members’ voluntary donations, and targeted asks every year to support our awards and programming. We have reached out to you—our life members—and to universities, academic departments, and university presses who share our mission to provide a more comprehensive account of our shared past. These targeted asks have helped fund our luncheon, awards, and biennial symposia and support for emerging scholars, such as our graduate student networking receptions at ASALH and travel assistance to our biennial symposia. Any remaining needs come out of our bank account.

To support and broaden our efforts, ABWH has created an Endowment Fund. Our goal is to raise $45,000 this anniversary year.

Next year, we will launch a more ambitious, multi-year campaign as we head into our 50th anniversary. An endowment is different from the fundraising that we do every year. With an endowment, we can set aside part of our assets to grow over time and better assure our long-term sustainability. It can also provide ongoing funds to support our awards, expand our programs, and meet new challenges. An endowment is one of the first steps to creating options for members to provide gifts that extend beyond our lifetimes.

We want to continue to build on the founders’ dreams. Please consider giving at one of the following levels. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated.

Benefactor Life Member Gift ($1,000 or more): Name featured in the Benefactor Giving Circle on the ABWH website, on ABWH Conference program back page, and on special banner at the ABWH and ASALH conferences; one free VIP ABWH awards luncheon ticket; ABWH-logo paperweight/coaster, pen, and bookmark; Benefactor conference badge ribbon; and special recognition from the podium at the luncheon. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation using PayPal or your credit/debit card at the Benefactor level of at least $1,000.

Patron Life Member Gift ($500-$999): Name featured in the Patron Giving Circle on the ABWH website, in ABWH Conference program, and on banner at the conference; one free ABWH awards luncheon ticket; ABWH-logo paperweight/coaster; and Patron conference badge ribbon. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation using PayPal or your credit/debit card at the Patron level of $500-$999.

Supporter Life Member Gift ($200-$499): Name featured in the Supporting Giving Circle on the ABWH website, in ABWH Conference program, and on banner at the ABWH conference; ABWH-logo pen and bookmark; and Supporting conference badge ribbon. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation using PayPal or your credit/debit card at the Supporting level of $200-$499.

Contributor Life Member Gift (any amount up to $199): Name featured in the Contributing Giving Circle in ABWH conference program; ABWH-logo bookmark; and Supporting conference badge ribbon. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation using PayPal or your credit/debit card at the Contributing level of $1-$199.

You can make a tax-deductible donation online by clicking the links above, scanning the QR code below, or copying https://bit.ly/ABWHLifeGift2024 into your browser. You may also mail a check or money order made payable to the Association of Black Women Historians:

Association of Black Women Historians
P O Box 870884
New Orleans, LA 70187-0884
(please note Endowment Campaign in the memo section)

ABWH Life Gift QR Code.png

Please also look out for announcements in our social media and TRUTH newsletter for other ways to support our 2024 Conference, such as donations and luncheon table sponsorships. Donations are fully tax deductible. ABWH is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization.

In the near decade that I have been part of the ABWH Executive Board, I have seen firsthand the field of Black women’s history grow exponentially. We’ve had a direct hand in that growth. Our members include past presidents and officers of all the major historical professional organizations as well as winners of innumerable scholarly awards and recognitions, including the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, and National Humanities Medal. We have produced work that shatters silences around Black women’s critical roles in history and the present day. We are a dynamic international network of scholars that include professors, students, archivists, public historians, and K-12 teachers. We share the value of Black women’s history with our students, communities, and the world. ABWH is at a critical growth point, and I invite you to take with me the bold steps needed to secure our future, especially as we look forward to and even beyond our 50th Anniversary in five years. This early endowment campaign offers us a chance to invest in the important work of advancing not just Black women’s history but each other.

With appreciation,

Shennette Garrett-Scott
National Director

P.S.: Help us keep our records up to date. Please update your mailing and preferred email addresses at bit.ly/ABWHMemberUpdate so that we can send your tax documents and gifts. Please make a tax-deductible donation online at https://bit.ly/ABWHLifeGift2024.