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Letter to the editor

Links' history on display

By MARY JANE PARK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 12, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The living room scene at the St. Petersburg Museum of History seemsappropriate.

More than 60 years, ago, a couple of Philadelphia women of color invited friends to join them in forming a club for African-American women.

They called it the Links, and over time, it has become one of the most prestigious volunteer organizations in the world. Its mission is to provide service to the community, to help African-American families and to concentrate on education and cultural enrichment.

St. Petersburg's chapter of the Links, the focus of a new exhibition at the museum, formed two decades ago when members of the combined St. Petersburg and Tampa organization decided that each community was growing and each would be better served by having its own chapter.

Mozelle Davis and Gloria Andrews were co-presidents of the club that represented both cities, Davis from St. Petersburg and Andrews from Tampa.

By June 1987, each city was working toward establishing its own chapter, says Faith Van, the current president of the St. Petersburg Links.

"We have not forgotten our Tampa Links sisters," she says. Members of the St. Petersburg, Tampa and Bradenton chapters gather each year at Founders Day, in November.

"Links to a Next Generation," a history museum exhibit that opens to the public on Saturday, focuses on the accomplishments of the St. Petersburg chapter, which has devoted service projects and financial support to a wide range of causes. They include Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast, Boy Scouts, the Carter G. Woodson African-American Museum, Community Action Stops Abuse, Ebony Scholars, the James B. Sanderlin Family Center, the Johnnie Ruth Clark Health Center, Happy Workers Children's Center and the Enoch Davis Center.

In a museum tableau that represents a living room hang portraits of Margaret Rosell Hawkins and Sarah Strickland Scott, founders of the international organization. There's a bouquet of white roses, the signature flower.

Other parts of the exhibit feature newspaper articles about the St. Petersburg chapter's accomplishments, several incarnations of Links member pins, and white clothing, which Links members wear for celebratory occasions.

Membership is by invitation. The St. Petersburg chapter has 26 active and five alumni members. Members nominate women known for their volunteerism and their activity in the community who have the time to dedicate to service projects.

Although many African-Americans continue to identify with fraternities and sororities after graduating from college, Van says, "We are not a sorority. We are an international service organization."

The St. Petersburg group, she says, is embarking on a new three-year project at Thurgood Marshall Middle School on 22nd Avenue S. The goal is to mentor students and to furnish resources at church youth groups and community centers to help better educate children.

Fast facts

Chapter's story

What: "Links to the Next Generation," exhibit focusing on the St. Petersburg chapter of Links, a service organization of African-American women or women of African descent.

Where: St. Petersburg Museum of History, 335 Second Ave. NE.

When: Saturday through February 2008.

Information: 894-1052 or www.spmoh.org.

[Last modified September 11, 2007, 22:39:06]