National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)

Founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune in 1935, the organization worked to represent African American women throughout the civil rights movement. Dr. Bethune built a national network of African American women’s organizations and published a magazine African Woman’s Journal that encouraged political activism and community organizing. Joining with other civil rights organizations, the NCNW worked to address New Deal discrimination, establish the Fair Employment Practices Committee, and attain a national voice for women and family concerns. Dr. Bethune helped draft the UN Charter as a delegate to the conference, and by 1960 under Dr. Dorothy Height, the NCNW worked for equal housing, voter registration, education, and economic services and opportunities.