This monograph asserts that the troubled history of segregation within American womens associations created a legacy of racial exclusivity and privilege. While acknowledging the progressive potential of womens associations and the extent to which they created a legitimate outlet for American womens public activism, it explores how and why such organizations failed to aid in issues of integration. Rather than being a historical accident, or a pragmatic response to circumstance, this monograph demonstrates that white exclusivity and privilege was crucial to the authority and influence of these associations. <i>Organized White Women and the Challenge of Race Relations</i> examines the translation of what seemed on the surface to be relatively simple demands for racial integration into a far more significant and all-encompassing confrontation with the frequently hidden structures and practices of white privilege.