Greetings!
Welcome to The Charleston, SC Club of Washington, DC, a social club formed in 1948 expressly for the purpose of gathering Charleston “folk” to share stories about the good old days back home, enjoy food and beverages, reunite with old friends and meet “brand new” friends for the first time. The club continues to promote fellowship among its members, that is integrally part of who we are, but it has broadened its purpose to address common social, cultural and civic interests and to perpetuate our Charleston heritage. There is a special bond that combines and holds the club together to serve the members common good. This is not stated anywhere; it is unnecessary because this way of life was part of our Charleston upbringing. We lived it. Rev. Martin Luther King made this principle explicit when he said, “We are tied together in the single garment of destiny caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
As the official name designates, The Charleston Club was found in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC, a city where many black citizens settled after fleeing the south in search of a better life. The Club’s 26 charter members were among the Great Migration*, having settled in the first stop along the route up the East Coast. One original member, Julia Magwood Harris, is still active and regularly attends meetings. It was in this border city where Mrs. Harris and her fellow charter members, hoping for all the rights and privileges of citizenship, deepened their pride, pursued achievement and came to believe that a better life is possible.
Today, membership is disbursed throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia (the DMV); however, The Club takes pride in its continuing commitment to DC by assisting to improve the quality of life through regular contributions to charitable organizations such as Martha’s Table and So Others May Eat (SOME). The National Museum of African American History & Culture, one of DC’s required tourist destinations, also receives annual financial contributions from The Club.
Thanks for visiting The Charleston Club’s website; you are cordially invited to take your interest one step further by attending one or several of our meetings. We would enjoy welcoming you!
*Great Migration, as chronicled in Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, when nearly six million black citizens between 1915 and 1970 migrated from the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life and thereby changed their lives and America forever.
Leroy C. Latten, President