The Future Outlook League (f. 1935), a Cleveland, Ohio, civil rights organization founded by John Oliver Holly, promoted employment, mobility, and equality for African American youth and young adults. The organization appealed to both unskilled and semi-skilled African Americans and was one of the first black organizations in the late 1930s to use picketing and economic boycotts to secure employment for African Americans. Supported primarily by weekly fees assessed to those who obtained jobs through the league, the organization integrated staffs of banks, stores, utilities, and industry. Integration of area neighborhoods were also a concern. The league's activities waned when World War II created additional employment opportunities on the home front. After the war it sought to rebuild itself, reviving in the mid-1950s and again in 1966 when it purchased a building on Cedar Avenue for its headquarters. Significant rebuilding of the program began again in 1975 when Reverend Charles V. Johnson became president following John Holly's death. Johnson softened the organization's militant posture, using pickets as a last resort, and instituted a six point agenda of full voter participation, implementation of civil rights laws, assistance in and development of community improvement strategies, investigation and reporting of social service programs, and employment. Fundraising events were held and a scholarship fund was established in Holly's honor.
The Future Outlook League Records, 1935-1959 and undated, consist of minutes, financial materials, subject files, scrapbooks, and membership cards.
This collection pertains largely to the establishment of the league and its activities in promoting employment and civil rights on behalf of Cleveland's African American community. The membership cards reveal characteristics of that community by providing information on marital status, age, occupation, education, and residence. The scrapbooks detail the league's activities against small, local establishments as well as national chains such as the A. and P. Company, Belle Vernon Products, Lawson's Stores, and People's Drug Stores. Genealogists might find the membership material useful.
The collection is arranged by document type and then chronologically. Membership cards are arranged alphabetically by last name.
The researcher should also consult MS 5484 the George and Louise Atchison Papers; and the "Voice of the League," the agency's publication, housed in the WRHS newspaper collection.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4171 Future Outlook League Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Reverend Charles V. Johnson, 1975 and 1976.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.