Whitney Young

Whitney Young
Young in 1964
Executive Director of the National Urban League
In office
1961–1971
Preceded byLester Granger
Succeeded byVernon Jordan
Personal details
Born
Whitney Moore Young Jr.

(1921-07-31)July 31, 1921
Shelby County, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedMarch 11, 1971(1971-03-11) (aged 49)
Lagos, Nigeria
Spouse
(m. 1944)
Children2
EducationKentucky State University (BS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MSW)
AwardsPresidential Medal of Freedom
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1941–1946
RankFirst Sergeant
Battles/warsWorld War II

Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised. Young was influential in the United States federal government's War on Poverty in the 1960s.