Beschreibung:

[African-Americana] [Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers] Constitution and Laws of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers Constitution and Laws of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Rerformers Richmond, Va.: Reformer Electric Power Print, 1907. Presumed first and only edition. 24mo. (80) pp. With the ownership signature of J.R. Lytle on front wrapper, title-page, and top of first page of text, and with the address of his daughter, Lutie Lytle ('16 Downing St/Brooklyn/NY') below same. Limp pink wrappers, worn and soiled, loss to bottom corner and spine, extremities chipped; small tide mark to top edge, scattered creasing. John R. Lytle (1851-1933), barber and member of the Populist Party in Topeka, Kansas, was the father of Lutie Lytle (1875-1955), one the first African American women lawyers in the United States. Admitted to the bar in Tennessee in 1897, she practiced in Topeka and Brooklyn, later becoming the first women law professor in the nation at the Central Tennessee College of Law. The address above coincides with her marriage to lawyer Alfred C. Cowan, who often defended plaintiffs in cases of racial discrimination in New York and was actively involved in local politics at the time. The couple often held gatherings at this address with distinguished members of the African American community. The Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers (1881-1934) was an African American fraternal organization that provided entrepreneurial skills and community services, helping establish business networks in Virginia for a burgeoning African American middle class during a time of Jim Crow and racial segregation.