Rare Book & Manuscript Library
 

Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Foundation records, 1971-1991

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.: MS#1340
Bib ID 4079908 View CLIO record
Creator(s) Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Foundation
Title Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Foundation records, 1971-1991
Physical Description 38 linear feet (99 boxes)
Language(s) English .
Access You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 2-99. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Arrangement

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged (Cataloged correspondence: Box 1; Uncataloged correspondence: Boxes 2-3; Series I/Foundation formation and dissolution: Box 1; Series II/Board of Directors: Boxes 4-9; Series III/Legal and financial affairs: Boxes 10-22; Series IV/Grants: Boxes 23-29; Series V/Fellowships: Boxes 30-56; Subject files: Boxes 57-79; Margaret B. Young files: Boxes 80-82; Audio and video tapes: Box 83; Printed materials: Boxes 84-90; Photographs and art work: Box 91; Oversize materials: in Map case drawer 14/D/7); Additions to the Collection.

Description

Summary

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, financial records, photographs, memorabilia, and printed materials. The Foundation's correspondence files consist of letters from different organizations and foundations, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change, The NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the YWCA. Also included in this collection are community dialogues on race relations (1974-1975); proposed dialogues (1979) on such subjects as the Boy Scouts of America, Columbia University, and the National Council of Christians and Jews; and files on the Whitney M. Young Fellows Retreat Conferences (1980-1984). The collection contains many files on Ed Wilson's bust of Young (1991), including contracts and agreements, records of payments to Wilson, documents concerning the bust's placement in various locations, correspondence with Wilson (1983-1991), and miscellaneous photographs and pictures. The contributions files contain annual listings of contributions and records of contributions from the National Urban League, assorted organizations, corporations, individuals, foundations, and Philip Morris.

Also included are files of Margaret B. Young: speeches by Mrs Young, articles, awards, and records of her trips abroad, and public events (UN, UNESCO, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Metropolitan Museum of Art). In addition, the collection contains transcriptions of interviews with Dorothy Height, Ann Tanneyhill, and Frankie Adams.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Conditions Governing Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 2-99. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Foundation records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Materials

Whitney M. Young, Jr. Papers., Columbia University Libraries.

Margaret B. Young Papers., Columbia University Libraries.

National Urban League Records., Columbia University Libraries.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Archives: Source of acquisition--The Foundation. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1992. Accession number--M-1992.

Gift of the Foundation, 1992.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed by Patrick Lawlor, 1988; Revised by Henry Rowen, 7/1999.

Archives Processed HR 08/07/1999.

Historical note expanded and updated by Celeste Brewer, May 2021.

Revision Description

2009-06-26 File created.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Agreements Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Annual reports Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Articles Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Audiocassettes Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Awards Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Brochures Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Bylaws (administrative records) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Calendars (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Certificates Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Checkbooks Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Contracts Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Directories Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Filmographies Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Financial records Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Illustrations Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Interviews Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Invoices Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Ledgers (account books) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Lists (document genres) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Memorandums Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Photographs Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Postage stamps Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Posters Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Press releases Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Receipts (financial records) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Reports Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Sound recordings Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Speeches (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Transcripts Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Videotapes Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
diplomas Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
minutes (administrative records) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

Subject

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Adams, Frankie V., 1902-1979 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
African Americans -- History Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Boy Scouts of America Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Bush, George, 1924- Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Charitable uses, trusts, and foundations Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Charities Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Civil rights Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
College teachers Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Columbia University Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Endowments -- Officials and employees Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Height, Dorothy I (Dorothy Irene), 1912-2010 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Libraries -- Gifts, legacies Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
National Conference of Christians and Jews Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
National Urban League Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Philanthropists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Philip Morris USA Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Scrapbooks Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Social problems Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Social service -- Societies, etc Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Sociologists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Sociology, Urban -- Societies, etc Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Studio Museum in Harlem Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Tanneyhill, Ann Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Unesco Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
United Nations Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
United Negro College Fund Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
United States -- Social conditions Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Library of Social Work Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
YWCA Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Young, Margaret B Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

The Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Foundation provided educational fellowships, scholarships, and professional development opportunities for young Black leaders in social work and business from 1971 until 1990. The Foundation offered direct educational support through fellowships and also issued grants to educational and other nonprofit institutions. These included a distinguished lectureship at Columbia University, a Whitney Young Leadership Award at the National Urban League, and the Whitney M. YOUNG Scholars Program at the Lincoln Foundation in Kentucky. The Foundation also endowed a Whitney M. Young, Jr. professorial chair, annual conference, and lecture series at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Foundation was founded, chaired, and directed by Margaret Buckner Young (1921-2009). Young was a former professor of educational psychology at Spelman College, a historically Black women's college in Atlanta, Georgia, and a writer of children's books about the African American experience. In addition to leading the Foundation, she also served on the boards of several large nonprofit organizations--including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Girl Scouts of the USA--and corporate boards including the New York Life Insurance Company. Young was the widow of civil rights movement leader and National Urban League director Whitney M. Young, Jr. The Foundation dissolved when Margaret B. Young retired in 1990.

The Foundation was created in memory of Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971), a social work educator, civil rights movement leader, and Executive Director of the National Urban League from 1961 until his death in 1971. As executive director, he expanded the size and mission of the organization and worked to end employment discrimination in government and private industry. He advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the latter in 1969.