Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, one of the most influential 20th Century black nationalist and Pan-Africanist leaders, was born on August 17, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica.  Greatly influenced by Booker T. Washington’s autobiography Up From Slavery, Garvey began to support industrial education, economic separatism, and … Read MoreMarcus Garvey (1887-1940)

Joseph Sylvester Jackson (?–?)

Joseph Sylvester Jackson became the first executive secretary of the newly founded Seattle Urban League when it received its charter from the national headquarters in New York in 1930.  Little is known about Jackson before 1928.  That year he graduated from Livingston College in Salisbury, … Read MoreJoseph Sylvester Jackson (?–?)

League of Struggle for Negro Rights (1930-1936)

The League of Struggle for Negro Rights (LSNR) was the primary civil rights organization of the American Communist Party (CP) during the early-to-mid 1930s. Founded in St. Louis in 1930 after the dissolution of the American Negro Labor Congress, the group established regional branches throughout … Read MoreLeague of Struggle for Negro Rights (1930-1936)

Lester Blackwell Granger (1896-1976)

Lester Blackwell Granger was a social worker and civil rights and labor rights activist best known for leading the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961. Granger was born on September 16, 1896, in Newport News, Virginia, to William “Ran” Randolph and Mary Louise … Read MoreLester Blackwell Granger (1896-1976)

John Campbell Dancy Jr. (1888-1968)

John Campbell Dancy, Jr. headed the Detroit Urban League through the tumultuous years of the Great Migration, Great Depression, and World War II.  He was born into a prominent family in North Carolina who steered him to the north to obtain degrees from Phillips-Exeter Academy … Read MoreJohn Campbell Dancy Jr. (1888-1968)