The Woman's Era Club was an African-American women's civic organization founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in between 1892 and 1894 by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin.
The organization was especially well known for the conflict caused when Ruffin attempted to desegregate the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) in 1900.
[9] Ruffin wanted the club to help with "racial uplift" and also "urban progressivism and the crusade for the rights of women.
[17] By April 1900, Lowe had mailed the certificate of GFWC membership to Ruffin and the Woman's Era Club had paid their dues.
[17] In June 1900, Ruffin attended the fifth biennial convention of the GFWC in Milwaukee as a delegate for the Woman's Era Club.
[18] The attempt of the Woman's Era Club to join the GFWC became a contested issue among the clubwomen.
[18] The Decatur Herald wrote that Ruffin's request for membership helped bring a positive light to the question of progress for black women in the United States.