The Harmony Club was organized in November 1900, by the late Mrs. Anna S. Posey. It was organized for the purpose of doing charitable work in the community. Prior to being named the Harmony Club, the organization was called the Ladies Aid of Homestead. There were six members at the meeting. In 1910, the Harmony Club was busy serving coffee and sandwiches to the prospective Doughboys. They completely re-roofed a home for one of the oldest families in Homestead and also provided them with clothing and other provisions.
In 1920, the club gave donations to the Davis and Coleman Homes. They gave help to the distressed victims who came to Homestead following the East St. Louis riots. They made pillowcases for the Homestead Hospital. They donated stained glass windows to Clark Memorial Baptist Church and Park Place A.M. E. Church.
In the 1930’s, the big flood in 1936 brought much suffering and distress to the area. The club purchased furniture for the Community Center on Fifth Avenue. The club realized that youth was important and organized a Jr. Harmony Club in 1935. Some contributions were made to the National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. toward the Scottsboro case. The highlight of this decade however, was when the G.L.C., the Art Needle Club, and the Harmony Club entertained the Pennsylvania State Federation of Negro Womens Clubs in Homestead.
In the 1930’s for the second time this century, our men went off to war. The Harmony Club completely furnished a room at the American Legion Post on Sixteenth Avenue in Homestead. They gave the Smokey City Guild $100 toward the purchase of a station wagon for the Lemington Home for Aged and Infirmed Women. They also sponsored a Christmas party at the home.
In the 1950’s the war was still with us – only this time, it was Korea. We donated flatware and dishes to the Homestead Community Center, made monetary donations to the Negro College Fund, NAACP Freedom Fund, Cancer Fund, the John Kolesar Multiple Sclerosis Fund, and purchased a membership to the Homestead Community Center. We celebrated our “Golden Anniversary” at Clark Memorial Baptist Church.
In the 1970’s we purchased a life membership to the NAACP; we made contributions to the Sickle Cell fund, St. Peter’s Retarded Children’s program, MUSA, NEED and the Urban League. MUSA, NEED, and the Urban League are still on our list for contributions. Our club project for the 1975 members was a trip to Montreal, Canada. At that time, members of the club were working with the Pennsylvania State Federation of Negro Womens Club to entertain the National Federation of Colored Womens Clubs at the Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel in August, 1976. We celebrated our 75th anniversary at the M.U.S.A. Center in Homestead.
In the 1980’s we were still in the business of helping those in need. The Harmony Club brought "Christmas Cheer" to the sick and shut-in in our community, the African Heritage Room at the University of Pittsburgh, the Cancer Fund, and the Garden of Prayer at Christmas, the United Negro College Fund, and N.E.E.D. We sponsored our first Prayer Breakfast in October, 1985. In 1989, the speaker for our Prayer Breakfast was Rev. Linda Smith, daughter of then President Yvonne Johnson Smith. The club hosted the Western Regional of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Negro Womens Clubs in April, 1987, at Second Baptist Church in Homestead. Each year the club celebrates its anniversary by attending church together at individual members’ churches. We began this tradition in 1987, when Second Baptist Church, Park Place A.M.E. in Homestead in 1988, Clark Memorial in 1989, the First Baptist in West Mifflin in 1990. The club members attend dinner together after the church services. We presented Barbara Lumburger in Concert at Second Baptist Church in Homestead in April, 1989. A scholar-ship committee was formed in 1989 to give scholarships to African-American students graduating in the upper 20% of their class in the Steel Valley and West Mifflin school districts. In addition to presenting scholarships, the club formed a committee on minority achievements in the Steel Valley school district. Monthly assemblies were held at the high school beginning in the Fall of 1989 and continued until the Spring 1980 featuring outstanding African-American speakers.
In the 1990’s the Club held its first annual Rainbow Social for the benefit of our scholarship fund to students in the Steel Valley and West Mifflin school districts. In addition to our Rainbow Social, we also sponsored three of August Wilson’s plays at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. We donated to Young Life, M.U.S.A. and Sickle Cell. In Homestead, our members participated in Clean-Up Day in Homestead, the Sickle Cell Walk-a-thon, and the Breast Cancer Awareness Program. Toys and clothing were given to the Community Care Pregnancy Center in Homestead. Harmony Club members donated toiletry articles to the Homeless Youth Shelter in Pittsburgh. A highlight of this decade came when the club partnered with F.A.M.E. in sponsoring “Youth Against Gun Violence” at Homestead’s Frick Park in August, 1999. The Executive Producer of the F.A.M.E. program was Rev. Linda Smith from New York, daughter of our member, Yvonne Johnson Smith. We continue to give scholarships to high-achieving students in the Steel Valley and West Mifflin school districts who are going on to further their education.
We celebrated our 100th club anniversary with a luncheon on October 28, 2000, at the Sheraton Hotel in Station Square. We look beyond today, its challenges and obstacles.
We can create a better tomorrow because we know that, through Jesus, all things are possible. If we can see, it must come to be.
“WE ARE STILL LIFTING AS WE CLIMB”
Easter S. Little Baker
Harmony Club Historian