National Urban League
A historic American civil-rights and economic-justice organization advocating for African American communities and against racial discrimination.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
The National Urban League is a nonpartisan American civil-rights and social-justice organization headquartered in New York City. It works to advance economic opportunity, educational access, fair housing, health equity, employment, voting and civic participation, and equal treatment under law for African Americans and other historically marginalized communities. Through a national network of local affiliates, the League combines direct community services with research, public education, policy advocacy, leadership development, and coalition work. The organization was established in New York City on September 29, 1910, as the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes. Its formation brought together several earlier efforts, including the Committee for the Improvement of Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in New York and the National League for the Protection of Colored Women. The organization was renamed the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes and adopted the name National Urban League in 1920. George Edmund Haynes became its first executive director, while Ruth Standish Baldwin was among its principal founders. During its early decades, the League focused heavily on employment, migration, social services, and the adjustment of Black Americans to rapidly changing urban labor markets. Under Eugene K. Jones, who assumed leadership in 1918, it expanded efforts to challenge discriminatory hiring and improve access to work during both the economic growth of the 1920s and the Great Depression. The League also developed research capacity and cultivated relationships with government agencies, employers, educators, and local civic organizations. Its role broadened during the New Deal and World War II eras. Lester Granger supported the campaign for fair employment in defense industries and the military, including the pressure surrounding the proposed 1941 March on Washington. The resulting federal Fair Employment Practices Committee reflected one of the policy goals advanced by the broader movement. After World War II, the League concentrated increasingly on professional employment, helping graduates of historically Black colleges and universities enter expanding white-collar and service-sector occupations while continuing to assist workers facing discrimination in industrial employment. Whitney Young’s leadership, beginning in 1961, moved the League into a more prominent position within the modern civil-rights movement. Young expanded fundraising, strengthened the organization’s national profile, supported federal investment in cities, and introduced initiatives such as Street Academy and New Thrust. The League also hosted planning meetings in 1963 for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, working alongside Martin Luther King Jr., A. Philip Randolph, and other movement leaders. In the contemporary period, the National Urban League has maintained a dual identity as a service provider and an advocacy institution. Marc Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, became president and chief executive officer in 2003 and continued efforts to broaden the League’s constituencies and public reach. The organization publishes the annual State of Black America report, operates a Washington Bureau focused on research and federal policy, and supports programs delivered through local affiliates. In 2022, the League reported 92 affiliates serving approximately 300 communities in 36 states and the District of Columbia, with services reaching more than 3 million people nationwide. Its public communications have also included the For the Movement podcast and the State of Black America television town hall. In 2025, the League joined other civil-rights organizations in litigation challenging several Trump administration executive orders, alleging violations of free-speech and due-process rights.
History
The National Urban League emerged from the Progressive Era response to racial discrimination, urbanization, and the movement of African Americans into northern cities. On September 29, 1910, Ruth Standish Baldwin, George Edmund Haynes, and other reformers established the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes in New York City. The new body incorporated or succeeded earlier initiatives concerned with industrial opportunity and the protection of Black women, including organizations founded in 1905 and 1906. Its early work emphasized social investigation, employment assistance, settlement services, and the creation of practical routes into urban economic life. The organization adopted the name National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes and developed a national network of related local organizations. George Edmund Haynes served as its first executive director. In 1918, Eugene K. Jones took leadership and guided the League through the labor expansion of the 1920s and the severe unemployment of the Great Depression. The organization sought to open skilled and professional employment to Black workers, improve industrial conditions, document discrimination, and connect local communities with public and private institutions. In 1920, it adopted the shorter name National Urban League. That same period saw the strengthening of its research function, including work associated with Lillian Anderson Turner Alexander. The League developed influence in federal policy during the New Deal. Jones later took leave from the organization to work in the Department of Commerce on matters concerning African Americans and participated in the informal group of Black advisers sometimes called the Black Cabinet. During World War II, Executive Secretary Lester Granger helped advance the campaign against racial exclusion in defense employment and the armed forces. The pressure surrounding the proposed March on Washington by A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and A. J. Muste contributed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s creation of the Fair Employment Practices Committee shortly before the planned demonstration. Postwar conditions changed the League’s priorities. Black veterans returned from a war against fascism with heightened expectations of equality at home, while the American economy moved toward professional, administrative, and service-sector work. The League responded by helping graduates of historically Black colleges and universities obtain professional positions, encouraging fair hiring, supporting industrial workers, and translating federal employment policy into local opportunities. Whitney Young became executive director in 1961, when mass civil-rights activism was reshaping American politics. He expanded fundraising and made the League a more visible partner in the national movement while retaining its emphasis on employment and urban economic development. The League hosted planning meetings for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Young also promoted Street Academy, an alternative educational program for high-school dropouts seeking a route toward college, and New Thrust, which supported local Black leaders in identifying and addressing community problems. He advocated federal assistance for cities confronting poverty, segregation, and disinvestment. The organization continued to combine advocacy with institutional and policy work after Young’s era. Clarence M. Pendleton Jr., who had led the Urban League in San Diego, later became chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights during the Reagan administration. Hugh Price became president in 1994. In 2003, Marc Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans, became the League’s eighth president and chief executive officer. Under Morial, the organization sought to reenergize its affiliate network, broaden its constituencies, and increase its national visibility. In the twenty-first century, the National Urban League has operated through local affiliates serving communities across the United States. Its direct-service portfolio includes education, employment, housing, health care, and justice-related programs. Its Washington Bureau functions as a research, policy, and advocacy arm focused on Congress and the executive branch. The annual State of Black America report remains a central publication, while newer media efforts include a television town hall and the For the Movement podcast. The League has also participated in coalition advocacy on gun violence and other public-policy issues. In February 2025, it joined a lawsuit against several Trump administration executive orders, alleging that they infringed free-speech and due-process rights.
- 2025
League joins federal executive-order lawsuit
[1]The organization joined allied civil-rights groups in a lawsuit challenging three Trump administration executive orders.
- 2022
National affiliate network reported
[1]The League reported 92 affiliates serving about 300 communities in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
- 2018
For the Movement podcast launched
[1]The weekly podcast extended the League’s public discussion of civil-rights and policy issues.
- 2003
Marc Morial becomes president and chief executive officer
[1]Morial took leadership with a focus on strengthening the movement’s constituencies and public profile.
- 1963
League hosts March on Washington planning meetings
[1]The organization provided space for planning meetings involving Martin Luther King Jr., A. Philip Randolph, and other movement leaders.
- 1961
Whitney Young becomes executive director
[1]Young expanded fundraising, civil-rights partnerships, urban-policy advocacy, and League programming.
- 1941
Fair-employment campaign supports wartime mobilization
[1]Under Lester Granger, the League supported pressure for equal access to defense work and military employment.
- 1920
Organization adopts the National Urban League name
[1]The National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes became known as the National Urban League.
- 1918
Eugene K. Jones assumes leadership
[1]Jones led an expanded campaign to challenge barriers to Black employment through the 1920s and the Great Depression.
- 1910
Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes founded
[1]Ruth Standish Baldwin, George Edmund Haynes, and others established the organization in New York City on September 29.
Products and positioning
A nonpartisan national civil-rights network that links direct community services with research, coalition-building, and public-policy advocacy focused on racial and economic equity.
Research publication
State of Black America
An annual National Urban League report examining conditions affecting African Americans and presenting analysis of economic, social, political, and civil-rights issues. It serves both as a research publication and as a platform for public discussion and policy advocacy.
Policy and advocacy service
Washington Bureau
The League’s Washington-based research, policy, and advocacy arm. It engages with Congress and the executive branch on issues connected to racial justice, economic opportunity, civil rights, and public policy.
Podcast · 2018
For the Movement
A weekly podcast launched in 2018 that discusses persistent social, policy, and civil-rights questions affecting communities of color.
Community services
Local affiliate services
Programs delivered through Urban League affiliates address education, employment, housing, health care, justice, and economic self-reliance. The precise mix varies by local affiliate and community need.
Controversies
2025
Lawsuit challenging Trump administration executive orders
The National Urban League joined a lawsuit alleging that executive orders 14151, 14168, and 14173 infringed civilians’ rights to free speech and due process. The matter is a legal dispute involving government policy rather than an allegation of misconduct by the League.
Marketing campaigns
- 1989Stop the Violence Movement
United States
The League benefited from proceeds generated by the Stop the Violence Movement and the hip-hop single Self Destruction, an anti-violence project involving prominent artists.
Outcome. Proceeds were directed to the National Urban League.
- 1963March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
United States
The National Urban League hosted planning meetings for the March on Washington, working with Martin Luther King Jr., A. Philip Randolph, and other civil-rights leaders.
Outcome. The march became one of the defining mass demonstrations of the modern American civil-rights movement.
- 1941Fair employment in defense and military work
United States
The League supported the campaign led by A. Philip Randolph and allied civil-rights figures against racial discrimination in defense employment and the armed forces.
Outcome. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee shortly before the proposed March on Washington.
Brand decisions
2018
Launch of For the MovementProduct launchBackground
The League sought to extend its public education and policy discussions through contemporary media.
Action taken
It launched a weekly podcast addressing social, civil-rights, and policy issues affecting communities of color.
Aftermath
The podcast became part of the League’s public communications and advocacy platform.
1961
Expansion into a more prominent civil-rights movement roleStrategyBackground
Whitney Young took leadership during a period of rapidly expanding mass activism and federal civil-rights debate.
Action taken
Young increased fundraising, strengthened partnerships with movement leaders, promoted urban-policy advocacy, and developed programs such as Street Academy and New Thrust.
Aftermath
The League became a more visible national partner in the modern civil-rights movement while retaining its employment and service orientation.
1920
Adoption of the National Urban League nameStrategyBackground
The organization had expanded beyond its original New York committee structure and was developing a broader national role.
Action taken
It replaced the longer National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes name with National Urban League.
Aftermath
The shorter name became the organization’s enduring national identity.
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