[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 121 (Thursday, July 18, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E946-E947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY SAINT PAUL'S STERLING CLUB

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 18, 2019

  Ms. McCOLLUM.  Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the centennial 
anniversary of Saint Paul's Sterling Club, the oldest African American 
men's club in the nation. Founded at a time when racism and segregation 
were the norm, and African Americans could not access the same 
accommodations as white community members, the Sterling Club provided a 
strong community to allow neighbors to come together and to host and 
celebrate visiting African American dignitaries.
  On a bright and cold New Year's Day in 1918, men from Saint Paul's 
Rondo neighborhood chartered a bus to spread the word of a new club 
created for African Americans. The Sterling Club, and later the Women's 
Auxiliary, would quickly become a cornerstone of the social and civic 
strength of Saint Paul's African American community. During its first 
hundred years, the Sterling club has hosted countless events, balls and 
social gatherings. Above all, the organization's principal purpose was 
``the proper entertainment of persons of note who may visit.''
  Officially incorporated on August 28, 1919, the Sterling Club was not 
a social club in the same vein as others, which typically only catered 
to community elites and the professional class. Among its ranks one 
could find, lawyers, architects, government employees and decorated war 
veterans. Officers and members also included railroad workers, 
janitors, meat packers, elevator operators and postal workers. Then as 
now, the egalitarian ethos speaks to the community-building and 
organizing principles of the Sterling Club.
  In 1900s Saint Paul, African American community members were eager to 
hear from leaders speaking about overcoming the adversity and racism 
that was commonplace throughout our nation. To address this desire, the 
Sterling Club began hosting notable and national leaders including 
Booker T. Washington, William Monroe Trotter and W.E.B. Du Bois. The 
club remains actively focused on civic engagement and has hosted forums 
for generations of candidates seeking elected office in Saint Paul. The 
development of the Sterling Club Charitable Fund has also contributed 
greatly to the community, sponsoring student scholarships and honoring 
volunteers who give back to our community.
  Despite being a men's group, the longevity and success of the club 
would not have been possible without the women of the Auxiliary. 
Spouses of club members long played a significant role in fundraising, 
planning and organizing. Without shrewd and savvy women of the 
Auxiliary scraping together enough funding, the club likely would not 
have been able to survive past the Great Depression and World War II to 
flourish in the post-war years.
  The Sterling Club has always relied on the collective experience and 
abilities of members to organize, resist, thrive and give back to the 
community. Founded in a time and place where the color of your skin 
could mean the difference between a comfortable life or a life at the 
margins, the Sterling Club stands tall as an example of how a community 
coming together can claim the American Dream in the face of adversity 
of prejudice and discrimination and forge a new and better future for 
everyone. Madam Speaker please join me in celebrating 100 years of 
Saint Paul Sterling Club.

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