The following are short descriptions of the groups and organizations which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
The Union League of America (or Loyal League) was the first African American Radical Republican organization in the southern United States. The League was created in the North during the American Civil War as a patriotic club to support the Union. It was officially established … Read MoreUnion League (1863- )
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was created by Congress on March 3, 1865. Fashioned to provide temporary, one-year assistance to former slaves and destitute whites in the war-ravaged South, in July of the following year … Read MoreFreedmen’s Bureau (1865-1872)
Arising out of Tacoma, Washington’s civil rights struggle in the 1960s, the Black Collective is a volunteer leadership organization engaged in addressing issues affecting the black community of Tacoma and Pierce County. The Black Collective began as the Concerned Black Citizens in the immediate aftermath … Read MoreThe Black Collective, Tacoma, Washington (1970- )
On June 1, 1956, all NAACP offices in Alabama were forced to close, as a result of Attorney General John Patterson’s nine-year injunction against the civil rights organization. This left a void in local civil rights leadership and a desperate need for a new group … Read MoreAlabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR)
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded on April 25, 1944 in Washington, D.C. by Frederick Patterson, president of the Tuskegee Institute, and Mary McLeod Bethune, an adviser to the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, to provide a steady, consistent stream of funding to 27 financially … Read MoreUnited Negro College Fund (1944- )
The United Construction Workers Association (UCWA) was founded in 1970 by Tyree Scott, an electrician who had become a Seattle civil rights activist. At the request of the American Friends Service Committee, Tyree Scott left the Central Contractors Association which he had created in 1968, … Read MoreUnited Construction Workers Association
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders was organized by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 28, 1967 to investigate the urban rebellions erupting in cities across the nation between 1964 and 1967. The findings of the seven-month study were published in March of 1968. … Read More1967 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Commission)
Established in 1975 at a national conference held at Purdue University, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) was created to increase the number of African American engineers. Their mission is to train black engineers who “excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” … Read MoreNational Society of Black Engineers (1975- )
The American Colonization Society (ACS), also known as the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color in the United States, emerged in 1816 as a national organization dedicated to promoting the manumission of the enslaved and the settlement of free blacks in West … Read MoreAmerican Colonization Society (1816-1964)
The Negro Actors Guild of America was founded by African American actors in 1937. The organization was established to try to eliminate the stereotyping of African Americans in theatrical and cinematic performances. It also stressed the need for more realistic roles for people of color, … Read MoreNegro Actors Guild of America (1937- )
