In 1943, the Montgomery City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs purchased this residence for its 25 adult clubs and 15 youth clubs.
The federation was associated with a series of groups all promoting positive citizenship on both race and gender fronts. They formed an invaluable gathering place for black women using the Community House. It functioned as a Girl Scout headquarters, a popular teenage meeting place, an adult social and civic center, and beginning in December 1948, the city's first library open to African Americans.
The building also hosted meetings of the Women's Political Council, which helped initiate the Montgomery Bus Boycott; a "Stork's Nest" for needy mothers; a Head Start kindergarten; voter registration; youth leadership training; tutorial and counseling programs for at-risk youth; family reunions, receptions, and weddings.