zation is committed to African-American eco-
nomic and political advancement and to the aboli-
tion of racism and prejudice in America.
The founders of the Urban League included in-
fluential white and African-American men and
women. Mrs. Ruth Standish Baldwin, a New York
City philanthropist and widow of a railroad magnate,
is recognized for her tireless commitment to purpose-
ful social outreach. Baldwin is often recognized
alongside Dr. George Edmund Haynes, a graduate of
FISKUNIVERSITYand YALEUNIVERSITYand the first
African American to earn a Ph.D. from COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY. Haynes served as director of the Na-
tional Urban League until 1918. EUGENEKINCKLE
JONES, whose term lasted through the Harlem Re-
naissance and ended in 1941, succeeded him. Whit-
ney Young, Vernon Jordan, and John Jacob are
among the directors who have served in recent years.
Like its fellow organization, the NATIONALAS-
SOCIATION FOR THEADVANCEMENT OFCOLORED
PEOPLE(NAACP), the Urban League has a signifi-
cant number of chapters throughout the country.
The local and regional divisions address issues relat-
ing to key areas such as housing, health care, and
employment. It currently has some 115 branches in
34 states and in the District of Columbia.
The Urban League developed its own journal,
OPPORTUNITY,in 1923. Although never as popular
as THECRISIS,the journal of the NAACP, Opportu-
nity did much to promote African-American ad-
vancement, literary excellence, political debate, and
cultural awareness. Its longtime editor, CHARLESS.
JOHNSON, worked to cultivate a high profile for the
journal and for its parent organization.
The emblem for the organization is a circle
surrounding an equal sign. The symbol reiterates
the Urban League’s determination to achieve uni-
versal equality.
Bibliography
Dickerson, Dennis C. Militant Mediator: Whitney M.
Young, Jr.Lexington: University Press of Kentucky,
1998.
Jordan, Vernon E. Jr., and Annette Gordon-Reed. Vernon
Can Read!: A Memoir.New York: Basic Civitas
Books, 2003.
Moore, Jesse Thomas Jr. A Search for Equality: The Na-
tional Urban League, 1910–1961.University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1981.
Weiss, Nancy J. Whitney M. Young, Jr., and the Struggle for
Civil Rights.Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1989.
———. The National Urban League, 1910–1940.New
York, Oxford University Press, 1974.Native SonRichard Wright(1940)
The groundbreaking novel by RICHARDWRIGHT
that reflected the sharp turn into American liter-
ary modernism. The novel is associated with the
emerging modernist period rather than with the
Harlem Renaissance.
Wright did publish during the Harlem Renais-
sance, and he enjoyed close friendships with fig-
ures of the period such as RALPH ELLISON,
LANGSTONHUGHES, and AUGUSTASAVAGE.
The gripping story revolves around Bigger
Thomas, a young man who accidentally kills the
daughter of the white family for whom he works as
a chauffeur. Wright’s novel is powerful for its repre-
sentation of Bigger’s terrible angst, rage, decline,
and ultimate victimization by an inhumane legal
system.
The novel was an unqualified best-seller; it
sold 250,000 copies in the first month. The novel
appeared two years after Wright’s UNCLETOM’S
CHILDREN:FOURNOVELLAS(1938), a sobering
collection of stories about devastated African-
American families, deadly racism, and the ramifi-
cations of political choices.Bibliography
Fabre, Michel. The World of Richard Wright.Jackson:
University Press of Mississippi, 1985.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., and Kwame Anthony Appiah.
Richard Wright: Critical Perspectives Past and Present.
New York: Amistad, 1993.
Gayle, Addison. Ordeal of a Native Son.Garden City,
N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1980.
Hakutani, Yoshinobu. Critical Essays on Richard Wright.
Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982.
Webb, Constance. Richard Wright: A Biography.New
York: Putnam, 1968.Naumberg, Margaret(1890–1983)
The first wife of novelist WALDOFRANK. She was
the founder of the Walden School, an educationalNaumberg, Margaret 367