Argues that black women formed a crucial part of the evolution of ideals of mutual aid and collective action from the period of slavery onward. Traces the process from mutual aid societies, continuing through literary and antislavery groups and beyond. Recounts the experiences of a number of black women. (DSK)

Eleanor Roosevelt broke the rules of race relations when she became friends with a leading Black woman, Mary McLeod Bethune, founder and president of Bethune-Cookman College. Without the mentorship of Mary Bethune, Mrs. Roosevelt may not have understood the southern mentality, White or Black. (RM)