"Victoria Matthews"(May 27,1861-March 10,1907)

Born a slave in fort valley near Macon County,Georgia she was the youngest of nine children.the family's master was the father of Victoria's and her sister Anna as well.The light skinned sisters were raised in his house when their mother ran away.They were freed when the Civil War began.Their mother eventually came back to Georgia,regained custody,and moved them to New York City in 1873.Victoria attended public school in New York for a while she had to leave to work as a domestic.Victoria married in 1879,settling in Brooklyn where she soon began writing for the Brooklyn Eagle and the Waverly Magazine under the pen name Victoria Earle.She took a deep interest in Black women's issues.In 1893, her story,Aunt Lindy:A story founded on real life,"was published.In 1895 she helped found the National Federation of Afro-American Women and,its chair,the following year help it merge with the National Colored Women's League.A dynamic speaker,Victoria lectured to groups on "The Awakening of the Afro-American Woman"and "The Value of Race Literature."The death of Victoria's son at the age of 16 proved to be a turning point in her life.Victoria decided to devote her life to the social welfare of young people.On February 11,1897,she founded the White Rose Mission,as it was commonly called,moved to larger quarters on 86th Street in in New York where its facilities soon included a settlement house.Vitoria died from tuberculosis.