| | Abstract: | The Urban League of Cleveland was organized in 1917, in Cleveland, Ohio, as the Negro Welfare Association of Cleveland to aid the adjustment of black workers coming to Cleveland during the Great Migration following World War I. Led by Wm. R. Conners for the first 25 years, it joined the National Urban League in 1930 and changed its name to the Urban League of Cleveland in 1940. Formed initially to confront barriers to economic opportunities and find jobs for black workers, by the 1930s the primary goal of the League was the issue of improved housing. Its purpose is interracial planning to help the community devise solutions to social and economic problems. The collection consists of minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, contracts, memoranda and other papers relating to the organization's operation, especially Operation Equality, a subdivision of the organization concerned with fair housing issues. This collection is essential for those interested in the issues of race relations and open housing in Cleveland. Records and reports of organizations such as Operation Equality, the Fair Housing Council, which consisted of several local fair housing groups including Operation Equality, and National Neighbors, a national organization which promoted peaceful integration, comprise a large part of the collection. | |
