In 1894, six women in the Hill District of Pittsburgh unknowingly made history with the creation of the Aurora Reading Club. Rachel Lovett Jones, along with Hannah Lovett, Virginia Woodson Proctor, Anna Posey, and Cora V. Hill Washington aimed to create a space where African American women could explore literacy, the arts, and the sciences at a time when African American women were not given many opportunities to do so. Their goals still live on within the club today.
The Aurora Reading Club created the motto, “Lifting as we climb,” to signify the women’s goal of helping each member better themselves through education and advocacy for themselves and each other. They did this through sharing literature, participating in cultural and political events, and using the reputation developed through the years to aid in their social pursuits. The club’s most common events consist of luncheons and community events to advocate and raise awareness for promoting literacy both locally and nationally.
Each month, the group hosts a luncheon at one of the member’s homes. This is in addition to a grand anniversary luncheon held in a larger venue to accommodate additional guests. Membership in the Aurora Reading Club has become a generational tradition, resulting in members like Thelma Lovette Morris, current co-chair of the club and the great-granddaughter of founder Hannah Lovett.
Examples of the club’s work have been regularly mentioned in the Pittsburgh Courier, which documented the Club’s meetings, including guest speakers, the topic of the meeting’s discussion, and informing readers about the book the group had talked about. They have also documented the wide variety of issues the Aurora Reading Club has addressed to help in the spread of information important to Pittsburgh.
In 1959, the Pittsburgh Courier documented a club meeting where the topic discussed was about “an ordinance against discriminating in housing.” The luncheon had a member of the Commission come and talk about the working of the Office of the Mayor of Pittsburgh. In addition to area specific news, in 1960, the Pittsburgh Courier reported the club had one of their monthly luncheons talking about “Negro History,” which discussed “contributions of the Negro in religion, poetry, music, science, medicine and architecture both locally and nationally.” This meeting also touched on many “firsts” like those of Dr. Vivian Davidson Hewitt, the first African American librarian.
The Aurora Reading Club is not only able to help local areas within Western Pennsylvania, like the Hill District, but people all over the country as well. The current day club’s accomplishments, documented in the Pittsburgh Courier, include setting up the Evers Book Fund in order to gather and ship books to multiple communities in Mississippi as well as providing books for the Selma Burke Art Center. The Aurora Reading Club has its roots placed firmly in the Hill District and has shown that it remains true to and has improved upon their original goals in 1894.
