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Whitney Young, Civil Rights Leader

Whitney Moore Young, Jr. (July 31, 1921 - March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. In 1961, at age 40, Young became Executive Director of the National Urban League. Within four years he expanded the organization from 38 employees to 1,600 employees; and from an annual budget of $325,000 to one of $6,100,000. During his tenure at the League, he brought the organization to the forefront of the American Civil Rights Movement. He both greatly expanded its mission and kept the support of influential white business and political leaders. Despite his reluctance to enter politics himself, Young was an important advisor to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. He had a particularly close relationship with President Johnson, and in 1969, Johnson honored Young with the highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died in 1971, at the age of 49, of a heart attack after swimming with friends in Lagos, Nigeria, where he was attending a conference sponsored by the African-American Institute. President Nixon sent a plane to Nigeria to collect his body and traveled to Kentucky to deliver the eulogy at Young's funeral.
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Title:
Whitney Young, Civil Rights Leader
Caption:
Whitney Moore Young, Jr. (July 31, 1921 - March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. In 1961, at age 40, Young became Executive Director of the National Urban League. Within four years he expanded the organization from 38 employees to 1,600 employees; and from an annual budget of $325,000 to one of $6,100,000. During his tenure at the League, he brought the organization to the forefront of the American Civil Rights Movement. He both greatly expanded its mission and kept the support of influential white business and political leaders. Despite his reluctance to enter politics himself, Young was an important advisor to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. He had a particularly close relationship with President Johnson, and in 1969, Johnson honored Young with the highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died in 1971, at the age of 49, of a heart attack after swimming with friends in Lagos, Nigeria, where he was attending a conference sponsored by the African-American Institute. President Nixon sent a plane to Nigeria to collect his body and traveled to Kentucky to deliver the eulogy at Young's funeral.
Credit:
Album / Science Source / New York Public Library
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Image size:
2469 x 4205 px | 29.7 MB
Print size:
20.9 x 35.6 cm | 8.2 x 14.0 in (300 dpi)
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