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| Formation | September 29, 1910; 115 years ago (1910-09-29) |
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| Founder | Ruth Standish Baldwin George Edmund Haynes |
| Founded at | New York City |
President | Marc Morial |
| Website | nul |
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TheNational Urban League (NUL), formerly known as theNational League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historiccivil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice forAfrican Americans and againstracial discrimination in the United States.[1] It is the oldest and largestcommunity-based organization of its kind in the nation. Its current president isMarc Morial.
TheCommittee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes was founded in New York City on September 29, 1910, byRuth Standish Baldwin and Dr.George Edmund Haynes, among others.[2] It merged with theCommittee for the Improvement of Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in New York (founded in New York in 1906) and theNational League for the Protection of Colored Women (founded in 1905), and was renamed the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes.[3][4] Haynes served as the organization's first Executive Director.
In 1918,Eugene K. Jones took the leadership of the organization. Under his direction, the League significantly expanded its multifaceted campaign to crack the barriers to black employment, spurred first by the boom years of the 1920s, and then by the desperate years of theGreat Depression.[5]
In 1920, the organization took its present name, the National Urban League.[6] The mission of the Urban League movement, as stated by the National Urban League, is "to enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights."[7] When the organization expanded its facilities to conduct more research in 1920, the new Department of Research came under the charge ofLillian Anderson Turner Alexander, a rising civil rights activist recruited by Jones.[8]
Jones played a significant role inPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's administration, taking leave from the League to head the Department of Commerce unit for the study of "Negro problems", and serving as part of a group of African-American advisors known as the "Black Cabinet".[9]
In 1941,Lester Granger was appointed Executive Secretary and led the NUL's effort to support theMarch on Washington proposed byA. Philip Randolph,Bayard Rustin andA. J. Muste to protest racial discrimination in defense work and the military.[10] A week before the March was scheduled to take place, President Roosevelt issued an executive order creating theFair Employment Practices Committee.[9]
In the wake ofWorld War II, Black veterans who fought racial hatred overseas returned to the United States determined to fight it at home, giving new energy to theCivil Rights Movement. As hundreds of thousands of new jobs opened up, shifting the economy from industrial manufacturing to a white-collar, service-oriented economy, the National Urban League turned its attention to placingHBCU graduates in professional positions.[9]
In 1961,Whitney Young became executive director amidst the expansion of activism in the civil rights movement, which provoked a change for the League. Young substantially expanded the League's fund-raising ability and made the League a full partner in the civil rights movement.[9] In 1963, the League hosted the planning meetings ofA. Philip Randolph,Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders for the AugustMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. During Young's ten-year tenure at the League, he initiated programs such as "Street Academy", an alternative education system to preparehigh school dropouts for college; and "New Thrust", an effort to help local black leaders identify and solve community problems. Young also pushed for federal aid to cities.
Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr., was, from 1975 to 1981, the head of the Urban League inSan Diego, California. In 1981, U.S. PresidentRonald W. Reagan tapped Pendleton as the chairman of theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights, a position which he held until his sudden death in 1988. Pendleton sought to steer the commission in theconservative direction in line with Reagan's views on social and civil rights policies.[11]
In 1994,Hugh Price was appointed as president of the Urban League.[12]
In 2003,Marc Morial, formermayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, was appointed the league's eighth President and Chief Executive Officer. He worked to reenergize the movement's diverse constituencies by building on the legacy of the organization and increasing the profile of the organization.[13]
The National Urban League is an organizational member of theCoalition to Stop Gun Violence, which advocatesgun control. In 1989, it was the beneficiary of all proceeds from theStop the Violence Movement and theirhip hop single, "Self Destruction".[14]
In May 2017, the National Urban League produced the State of Black America TV Town Hall, which aired on TV One in 2017 and 2018.[15] The TV Town Hall elevated social issues related to African Americans through an interview style format with celebrity guests. The show was executive produced by Rhonda Spears Bell.
In February 2018, the National Urban League launched a weekly podcast,For the Movement, which discusses persistent policy, social and civil rights issues affecting communities of color.[16]
As of 2022, the National Urban League has 92 affiliates serving 300 communities, in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The National Urban League provides direct services in the areas of education, health care, housing, jobs, and justice—providing services to more than 3 million people nationwide. The organization also has a Washington Bureau that serves as its research, policy and advocacy arm on issues relating to Congress and the Administration.[17]
On February 19, 2025, the National Urban League joined civil rights organizations National Fair Housing Alliance and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago in a lawsuit against the executive orders14151,14168, and14173 of the Trump administration,[18][19][20] on the grounds that these infringe upon civilians'rights to free speech anddue process.[21][22][23]
TheState of Black America is an annual report published by the league.[24][25]
The presidents (or executive directors) of the National Urban League have been:[26]
| Presidents | From | To | Background |
| George Edmund Haynes | 1910 | 1918 | social worker |
| Eugene Kinckle Jones | 1918 | 1940 | civil rights activist |
| Lester Blackwell Granger | 1941 | 1961 | civic leader |
| Whitney Moore Young, Jr. | 1961 | 1971 | civil rights activist |
| Vernon Eulion Jordan, Jr. | 1971 | 1981 | attorney |
| John Edward Jacob | 1982 | 1994 | civil rights activist |
| Hugh Bernard Price | 1994 | 2002 | attorney foundation executive |
| Marc Haydel Morial | 2003 | Current | attorney |
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