---
title: "National Association of Colored Women — AP African American Studies"
description: "The NACW (1896) united Black women's clubs to fight for rights, education, and suffrage. Key to Topic 3.8 uplift ideologies in AP African American Studies."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/national-association-of-colored-women"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# National Association of Colored Women — AP African American Studies

## Definition

The National Association of Colored Women (NACW), founded in 1896, was a national federation of Black women's clubs that promoted racial uplift through education, suffrage activism, and community service, countering race and gender stereotypes under the motto "Lifting as We Climb."

## What It Is

The National Association of Colored Women (NACW) was founded in 1896 as a national umbrella organization that brought together hundreds of local [Black women's clubs](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-womens-clubs "fv-autolink"). Its motto, "Lifting as We Climb," captures the whole idea of uplift ideology in one phrase. As individual Black women advanced through education and respectability, they pulled their communities up with them. The NACW ran kindergartens, supported schools, fought for [women's suffrage](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/8-uplift-ideologies-and-black-womens-rights-and-leadership/study-guide/vD4cMW522VxPRn4w "fv-autolink"), and pushed back against the racist and sexist stereotypes that plagued Black women in the decades after slavery.

For [AP African American Studies](/ap-african-american-studies "fv-autolink"), the NACW is your go-to example of EK 3.8.B.3, which says Black women created clubs and organizations that countered race and gender stereotypes by exemplifying the dignity, capacity, beauty, and strength of African American women. It also shows that uplift wasn't just a debate between two famous men (Washington and Du Bois). Black women built their own institutions and set their own agenda, often combining education, economic advocacy, and political rights into one program.

## Why It Matters

The NACW lives in **[Unit 3](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3 "fv-autolink"): The Practice of Freedom, Topic 3.8 (Lifting as We Climb: Uplift Ideologies and Black Women's Rights and Leadership)**. It directly supports learning objective 3.8.B, which asks you to describe ways Black women promoted the advancement of African Americans. The NACW hits every essential knowledge point under that objective. It connects to suffrage activism (EK 3.8.B.1), to Black women's central role in rebuilding communities after [slavery](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/23-the-civil-war-and-black-communities/study-guide/izqwf48keJf083W0 "fv-autolink") (EK 3.8.B.2), and to club organizing that countered stereotypes (EK 3.8.B.3). It also gives you a third voice in the Washington-Du Bois debate from 3.8.A. If a question asks how Black women's strategies compared to industrial education or the Talented Tenth, the NACW is the evidence you reach for.

## Connections

### [Black women's clubs (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-womens-clubs)

The NACW didn't replace local clubs; it federated them. Think of local clubs as chapters and the NACW as the national headquarters that gave their work a unified voice and a shared mission.

### Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Exposition Address (Unit 3)

Washington argued for industrial education before political rights. NACW leaders complicated that model. They valued education too, but many refused to set aside political rights like suffrage, which makes the NACW a perfect comparison point in uplift-strategy questions.

### [Nannie Helen Burroughs (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/nannie-helen-burroughs)

Burroughs embodies what clubwomen's uplift looked like in practice. She founded a school for Black women and girls and worked through churchwomen's networks, the same organizing world the NACW grew out of.

### [Lift Every Voice and Sing (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/lift-every-voice-and-sing)

Both belong to the same turn-of-the-century moment of building Black institutions and pride. [James Weldon Johnson](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/james-weldon-johnson "fv-autolink")'s anthem and the NACW's motto do similar cultural work, asserting Black dignity in an era of segregation and stereotype.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions on the NACW usually test relationships, not trivia. Expect stems asking how the NACW related to the broader women's suffrage movement, how its leaders critiqued Booker T. Washington's industrial education model, or how its goals aligned with Du Bois's emphasis on education and civil rights. The pattern is clear. You need to place the NACW inside the uplift debate, not just recall the date 1896. A stimulus connected to the NACW appeared on a 2025 short-answer question, so be ready to read a source from or about clubwomen and explain its purpose and historical situation. The strongest move on any free-response question is pairing the NACW with EK 3.8.B.3 language: it countered race and gender stereotypes by demonstrating the dignity, capacity, and strength of Black women.

## National Association of Colored Women vs NAACP

Easy to mix up because both are acronym organizations from the same era. The NACW (1896) was a federation of Black women's clubs focused on uplift, education, suffrage, and community service, led by and for Black women. The NAACP (1909) was an interracial civil rights organization, co-founded by Du Bois, that fought segregation mainly through legal action and publicity. On the exam, gendered leadership and the club movement point to NACW; courtroom and legal strategy point to NAACP.

## Key Takeaways

- The NACW, founded in 1896, was a national federation of Black women's clubs organized under the motto "Lifting as We Climb."
- It is the textbook example of EK 3.8.B.3, showing how Black women's clubs countered race and gender stereotypes by exemplifying dignity, capacity, beauty, and strength.
- NACW women advocated for Black women's voting rights during the women's suffrage movement, linking racial uplift to political rights.
- The NACW gives you a third position in the Washington-Du Bois debate, because clubwomen pursued education and political rights at the same time rather than choosing one.
- Black women's leadership through organizations like the NACW was central to rebuilding African American communities in the generations after slavery.

## FAQs

### What was the National Association of Colored Women?

The NACW was a national federation of Black women's clubs founded in 1896 to promote the rights, education, and social advancement of [African American](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/10-black-pride-identity-and-the-question-of-naming/study-guide/sCMCOOHW7DRtM6jH "fv-autolink") women. Its motto, "Lifting as We Climb," summed up its uplift philosophy.

### Is the NACW the same as the NAACP?

No. The NACW (1896) was a Black women's club federation focused on uplift, education, and suffrage, while the [NAACP](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/naacp "fv-autolink") (1909) was an interracial civil rights organization focused on legal challenges to segregation. They overlapped in era and goals but were separate organizations.

### Did the NACW agree with Booker T. Washington's strategy?

Not entirely. NACW leaders valued education and self-help like Washington did, but many rejected his suggestion to delay political rights, pushing for women's suffrage and civil rights alongside education. AP practice questions often test exactly this tension.

### What does "Lifting as We Climb" mean?

It was the NACW's motto and the core of uplift ideology. The idea was that educated, accomplished Black women had a duty to raise the entire community as they advanced. The College Board uses the phrase as the title of Topic 3.8.

### How is the NACW tested on the AP African American Studies exam?

It appears in Topic 3.8 under learning objective 3.8.B, usually in questions about how Black women promoted African American advancement, how the NACW related to the suffrage movement, or how its strategy compared to Washington's and Du Bois's. A 2025 SAQ used a stimulus connected to the NACW.

## Related Study Guides

- [3.8 Lifting as We Climb: Uplift Ideologies and Black Women's Rights and Leadership](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/8-uplift-ideologies-and-black-womens-rights-and-leadership/study-guide/vD4cMW522VxPRn4w)

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