During the Great Migration, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, became a mecca for
African Americans seeking better job opportunities, wages, and living
conditions. The city's thriving economy and vibrant social and cultural
scenes inspired dreams of prosperity and a new start, but this urban
haven was not free of discrimination and despair. In the face of
injustice, activists formed the Urban League of Pittsburgh (ULP) in 1918
to combat prejudice and support the city's growing African American
population.
In this broad-ranging history, Joe William Trotter Jr. uses this
noteworthy branch of the National Urban League to provide new insights
into an organization that has often faced criticism for its social
programs' deep class and gender limitations. Surveying issues including
housing, healthcare, and occupational mobility, Trotter underscores how
the ULP -- often in concert with the Urban League's national
headquarters -- bridged social divisions to improve the lives of black
citizens of every class. He also sheds new light on the branch's
nonviolent direct-action campaigns and places these powerful grassroots
operations within the context of the modern Black Freedom Movement.
The impact of the National Urban League is a hotly debated topic in
African American social and political history. Trotter's study provides
valuable new insights that demonstrate how the organization has relieved
massive suffering and racial inequality in US cities for more than a
century.