Our second Black History Month highlight is George Edmund Haynes (1880–1960).
George Edmond Haynes was a lifelong civil rights advocate with a diverse educational background in social work. Haynes was the first African American to graduate from the New York School of Philanthropy (now the Columbia University School of Social Work). Earlier, while still a graduate student, he had been Secretary of the Colored Men’s Department of the International Committee of the YMCA, during which time he encouraged students to achieve scholastic excellence and to helped black colleges set high academic standards.
Haynes went on to become co-founder and first executive director of the National Urban League. The National Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream.
From 1918 to 1921, he worked as a special assistant to the secretary of labor (under the title of director of Negro economics), making him one of the two highest-ranking Black federal employees. As a special assistant to the Secretary of Labor, he was involved in matters of racial conflict in employment, housing, and recreation.
Thank you Dr. Haynes for your work in education and employment, helping black families across the nation!
