- Lester Granger
Lester Blackwell Granger (
September 16 ,1896 - January 1976) was an African American civic leader who organized theLos Angeles, California , chapter of theNational Urban League (NUL).Granger was born
Newport News, Virginia , one of six sons. His mother was a teacher and his father was a doctor fromBarbados . He grew up inNewark, New Jersey and graduated fromDartmouth College in 1918.He served in the U.S. Army during
World War I , and worked briefly for the Newark chapter of the National Urban League.In 1922, Granger was an extension worker with the New Jersey state vocational school for African American youth in
Bordentown .In 1930, he organized the Los Angeles chapter of the NUL. In 1934, he led the organization's efforts to promote trade unionism among African American workers and challenge racism by employers and labor organizations.
In 1940, Granger became the NUL’s assistant executive secretary in charge of industrial relations, and continued to work to integrate racist
trade union s. In 1941, he led the NUL's effort to support the March on Washington proposed byA. Phillip Randolph ,Bayard Rustin andA. J. Muste to protest racial discrimination in defense work and theArmed Forces . During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, he insisted that the NUL continue its strategy of "education and persuasion," a view which the NUL continued to support.He remained a leading figure in social work over the years, and in 1952, served as president of the National Conference of Social Work.
Granger retired from the NUL in 1961 and joined the faculty of
Dillard University inNew Orleans, Louisiana .Granger was a member of
Alpha Phi Alpha , the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for African Americans.Granger died in
Alexandria, Louisiana in January 1976.Legacy
The Tucker Foundation annually presents "The Lester Granger 18 Award" to a
Dartmouth College graduate whose commitment to public service, social activism or nonprofit professions has been exemplary. [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~tucker/publications/newsletters/spring2003/granger.html]References
* [http://www.nul.org/history.html National Urban League]
External links
* [http://www.kclibrary.org/localhistory/exhibits/autographs/granger.htm Lester Granger Autograph]
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