Explorations in Black Leadership

Co-Directed by Phyllis Leffler & Julian Bond

National Urban League (NUL)

Formed from the merger of several committees focused on improving the urban and industrial conditions of male and female African Americans in New York in 1911, the NUL became a crucial advocate for the economic, political, and social rights of African Americans. Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Hayes were early figures, the latter serving as the first executive secretary. The NUL focused on breaking down barriers to economic opportunity for blacks, advocating and supporting the civil rights movement, and continuing the fight for equal economic and political rights.