National Negro Business League facts for kids
The National Negro Business League (NNBL) was an American group started in Boston in 1900. Booker T. Washington created it to help African-American businesses grow. The main goal of the League was to "promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro." It was known for being made up of "negro men and women who have achieved success along business lines."
The League grew very quickly. By 1905, it had 320 local groups, called chapters. By 1915, there were over 600 chapters in 34 different states. In 1966, the League changed its name to the National Business League and moved its main office to Washington D.C. It is still active today.
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How the National Negro Business League Started
Founding the League
Booker T. Washington started the National Negro Business League (NNBL) in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1900. A rich businessman and helper of good causes, Andrew Carnegie, supported this effort.
The organization officially became a company in 1901 in New York. It quickly set up 320 chapters across the United States. In May 1913, a respected Black journalist named Ralph Waldo Tyler became the first National Organizer of the NNBL. Tyler's job was to travel through the Southern United States. He would write about the state of Black businesses and encourage them to join the NNBL.
The League included many different types of Black professionals. There were small business owners, doctors, farmers, and skilled workers. Its main goal was to use business to help African-American people gain equality in the United States. Business growth was the top priority, but civil rights were also very important. For example, in 1905, the Nashville, Tennessee, chapter protested against segregation on local buses by boycotting them.
Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans needed to build strong economic connections. He felt this would lead to social improvement and change. The League also helped Black business owners with advertising and sales. They encouraged national companies to advertise in Black newspapers and magazines. This helped these companies reach a large group of people with great buying power.
After Booker T. Washington passed away in 1915, Robert Russa Moton took over as the head of the League. He was also Washington's replacement at Tuskegee Institute. Albon L. Holsey, another leader from Tuskegee, became the League's executive secretary. Other important leaders around 1922-1923 included John L. Webb, who was the treasurer. Charles Clinton Spaulding, who led the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., was also a key figure.
Groups Connected to the League
The National Negro Business League worked with many other professional groups. These included the National Negro Bankers Association and the National Negro Press Association. There was also the National Association of Negro Funeral Directors and the National Negro Bar Association. Other connected groups were the National Association of Negro Insurance Men and the National Negro Retail Merchants' Association. The National Association of Negro Real Estate Dealers and the National Negro Finance Corporation were also part of this network.
The National Negro Bankers Association started at a League meeting in 1906. It was organized by William R. Pettiford from Birmingham. The League also inspired Robert R. Church Sr. to open the Solvent Savings Bank in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1906.
See also
- Civil rights movement (1896–1954)
- American business history
- African American business history
