BARROWS, Isabel C.

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First Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question; First editions. The conferences aimed to bring together representatives of Northern and Southern states to propose solutions to the social and economic problems faced by Black Americans. However, Black Americans were themselves excluded. The editor of the proceedings was also the stenographer for the conferences; in this capacity she was the first woman employed by the US Department of State.Each event was composed of a series of lectures on topics such as education, industrial training, citizenship, and religion. The attendees were a mixture of philanthropists, politicians, social reformers, and clergymen. In their speeches, several speakers applauded the achievements of the formerly enslaved population in the years since the abolition of slavery. However, their attitude was paternalistic, and most insisted on "White liberals... as the principal architects of philanthropy and curated education reform for current and successive generations of Black Americans" (Kazembe, p. 138). Black individuals and organizations with authority, especially churches, were depicted as inferior to white equivalents, and were at times treated with suspicion. In his speech at the first conference, the lawyer and soldier Albion W. Tourgée expressed a more egalitarian perspective. He expressed frustration with the decision to exclude Black participants from the conference, saying that their opinion regarding their own future was "worth more than that of

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