Black History Heritage Profile: Whitney M. Young, Jr.

Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Social Reformer

Whitney M. Young focused on gaining equality for blacks in business and politics as the executive director of the National Urban League. Improving opportunities for the urban poor was his goal. Born in 1921 in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky, Young appealed to corporate leaders to support job programs, low-income housing, and education for African Americans. The “Domestic Marshall Plan” was a huge government spending plan promoted by Young to address the racial issues in this country. He was an advisor to presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon on issues of race.

Young graduated from Kentucky State College in 1941 and served in the army during World War II. Then earning a MA in social work in 1947 from the University of Minnesota, Young began his alliance with the National Urban League working as the industrial relations secretary. Young was named the dean of the Atlanta University School of Social Work in 1954 and he held that position until 1961. The National Urban League grew from 60 chapters to 98 under Young’s leadership. The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was cosponsored by the NUL. Young drowned in Lagos, Nigeria in March of 1971.