 Unlike African American social reformers of the time, Kellor believed that enslavement made it impossible for African American women to lead moral, respectable lives.Kellor and her cohort of white reformers focused on improving recently emancipated African American women's efficiency, rather than attempt to challenge the racially restrictive segregationist practices of the Northern society.In 1916, she became the chairman of the Women's Committee for the National Hughes Alliance, headquartered in the Hotel Astor.