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
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- 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.
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.
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Gift of Velma Banks, 2018
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.
- Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
- Series II: Foundation Formation and Dissolution
- Series III: Chronological Correspondence
- Series IV: Board Of Directors
- Series V: Legal and Financial Affairs
- Series VI: Grants
- Memorial House Simpsonville, KY
- Whitney Young Magnet High School, Chicago, Ill
- Columbia University-Distinguished Lectureship and Filmography
- National Urban League
- Series VII: Fellowships
- Community Dialogues, Tarrytown 1980, Survey and other Materials
- Selection Committee and Administration
- Files on Administration
- Fellowships
- Series VIII: Subject Files
- Negro Ensemble Company/Leontyne Price Benefit Concert
- Leontyne Price Benefit Concert
- Materials Race, Class and Poverty & Harold Sims
- Studio Museum in Harlem/Y.W.C.A.
- Young, Whitney M. Jr.
- Young, Whitney M. Jr. Bust Files
- Young, Whitney M. Bust Files
- Memorabilia
- Young, Whitney M. Jr., Memorials
- Young, Whitney M. Jr., Papers and Collections
- Young, Whitney M. Jr., Papers and Collections: Young, Whitney M. Sr.
- Series IX: Whitney Young, Senior, 1976
- Series X: Margaret B Young Files
- Series XI: Audio and Video Tapes
- Series XII: Printed Materials
- Series XIII: Oversized Materials
- Additions to the Collection
Using the Collection
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
Reproductions 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.
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.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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