Alice Wiley Seay (b. 1858—d. 1937)
Seay was born in Amelia County, Virginia, in 1858 to James, a farm laborer, and Dinah Baugh. She was most likely was born a slave. In 1886 she married Pleasant Wiley, and in 1894 the couple moved to Brooklyn, New York. In her early days in New York Seay was a seamstress and did charity work for the Dorcas Home Missionary Society and was ordained as a Deaconess of the Concord Baptist Church in 1897. After her husband Pleasant Wiley died in 1906, Seay remained in New York and remarried James Alfred Seay, a farmer, who remained on his farm in Virginia. In 1908 Seay founded the Empire State Federation of Women’s Clubs, which was a conglomerate of several New York State-based clubs for black women that focused on both women’s and civil rights. The Federation also fought to give a voice to marginalized young African American girls in setting up scholarships and beauty pageants. Also, the Empire State Federation of Girls’ Clubs was established through ESFWC to uplift girls in need. Seay also served as a president of the Northeastern Region of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club and led the Dorcas Home Missionary Society which was responsible for charity work in the African American community in Harlem. Later in life, she worked with the Women’s Christin Temperance Union.
Additional Sources:
Alexander Street Short Biography: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C3935930/biographical-sketch-alice-wiley-seay#page/1/mode/1/chapter/bibliographic_entity|bibliographic_details|3935930
New York Age Article:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28076979/the-new-york-age/
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Article:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28076621/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Article:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11017010/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/
