Margaret Murray Washington was the organizer and the first president of the Alabama Federation of Colored Women's Club (AFCWC), which was established on December 29, 1899. Cornelia Bowen was the leader of the group early on. During the preliminary meeting of the club there were discussions of how to address the mounting reform problem; one of the pressing needs was to establish a reformatory for African American youths. The club was very involved prison reform. The Federation was successful in getting young black prisoners released into the custody of its boys' school built at Mt. Meigs. Young lives were saved from prison by the supervision of Margaret Washington. This corrective school got less support from the state, as opposed to the white boys' reform school. The club members also supported the older prisoners with personal care and religious services. Alabama took over responsibility for the boys' reformatory school and AFCWC raised money for housing for young girls at Mt. Meigs. Prison reform being a national issue, the national office of the NACW eventually joined the program.
