EBS STAFF
On Tuesday, March 17, Extreme History Project Director Crystal Alegria will present about a little-known influential group of Black women in Bozeman’s history. The Bozeman Public Library event will start at 6 p.m. in the Community Room and will discuss the Sweet Pea Study Club that advanced and supported African American women in Bozeman in the 1920s and 1930s. The educational event is free and open to the public.
“As a chapter of the Montana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, the Sweet Pea Study Club fostered education, civic engagement, and mutual support at a time when African American women faced significant social and institutional barriers,” the event description states.
Alegria will highlight the club’s crucial role in community building, promoting social reform and creating networks that support women beyond the Bozeman area.
“Through historical records and local stories, the talk illuminates how women’s grassroots organizing helped shape Montana’s cultural and civic landscape and why their legacy still matters today,” the description states. In a past Facebook post, the Extreme History Project shared more about the Sweet Pea Study Club, which was led by club president Eva Robinson. The local club was organized in 1921, according to Extreme History Project and served as the Bozeman chapter of the Montana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. According to the Montana Historical Society, the statewide organization granted scholarships, supported civil rights legislation and “worked to improve racial relations at the state and local level.”
