Born: 1866, United States
Died: 28 March 1928
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mary P. Evans
The following is republished with permission from the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.
The Women’s Service Club began as one of Mrs. Wilson’s knitting clubs, organized by Mary Evans Wilson (1866–1928), when, during World War 1, members met to knit scarves and gloves for soldiers. Wilson and her husband, Attorney Butler Wilson, were organizers of the Boston branch of the NAACP, which had the largest membership in the national organization during its first decade, 1909–20. Mary Evans Wilson traveled throughout the northeast recruiting members for the NAACP. In Boston her knitting clubs produced 300 new women members. In 1919, the club, by then called the Women’s Service Club, purchased this building and incorporated with a goal of providing service programs for the African American community.