“Showing the Way Out for Happy Intermarriages”: A History of Miscegenation Clubs in American Cities, 1920s–1940s

In the early twentieth century “ miscegenation clubs” also known as “mixed-race clubs” sprouted in urban cities across America. This paper examines the history of these social and cultural urban institutions. These oft-ignored social and cultural spaces tell us a lot about multiracial communities between the 1920s and the 1940s. In a period where states policed interracial marriage through the implementation of miscegenation laws, mixed-race clubs offered interracial couples and families a unique space for social service, fellowship, and support.

One of the earliest and most recognized of these organizations was the “Manasseh Clubs” of Milwaukee and Chicago. Named after the half-Egyptian son of Joseph in the Old Testament, Manasseh clubs in Midwestern cities organized interracial social events for African American and European immigrant families. In Los Angeles mixed-race clubs like the “Miscegenation Club” and the “Triangle Club, Inc.” boasted increasing membership and popularity by the 1940s. Social activities that included, parties, picnics, and weekend gatherings in member homes ensured that the organizations were family-friendly. Membership was open to families of mixed race, especially the children, who were encouraged to take pride in their multiracial identities. It was a unique expression of community and familial ties across racial lines.

In its own way, the formation of miscegenation clubs demonstrated not only a need for an alternative space for multiracial families, but also a sense of pride in racial mixing between different people. These clubs offered a happy solution, albeit a temporary one, to whatever social difficulties and challenges its members faced in larger society due to race mixing. While the numbers were small, the formation of miscegenation clubs in American cities signaled a gradual shift in social attitudes and mores about interracial couples and their families; reflecting a sense of tolerance and recognition that would continue into the post-WWII period.