Whitney Young

Whitney Young
Whitney Young at the White House, 1964
Born	Whitney Moore Young Jr. (1921-07-31)July 31, 1921 Shelby County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	March 11, 1971(1971-03-11) (aged 49) Lagos, Nigeria
Monuments	Whitney Young Memorial Bridge, Clark Atlanta University School of Social Work, Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award, Whitney Young High School in Chicago, Whitney M. Young High School in Cleveland, and many other schools
Other names	Whitney Young
Alma mater	Kentucky State University, MIT, University of Minnesota
Organization	National Association of Social Workers, National Urban League
Movement	National Urban League, American Civil Rights Movement, March on Washington, National Association of Social Workers, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Awards	Rockefeller Foundation Grant, Presidential Medal of Freedom

National Urban League, American Civil Rights Movement, March on Washington, National Association of Social Workers,

Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. 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 born in Shelby County, Kentucky, on July 31, 1921, to educated parents. His father, Whitney M. Young, Sr., was the president of the Lincoln Institute, and served twice as the president of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association. Whitney's mother, Laura Young, was a teacher who served as the first female postmistress in Kentucky (second in the United States), being appointed to that position by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. Young enrolled in the Lincoln Institute at the age of 13, graduating as his class valedictorian, with his sister Margaret becoming salutatorian, in 1937.

Young earned his bachelor of science in social work from Kentucky State University, a historically black institution. Young had aspirations of becoming a doctor at Kentucky State. During this time at Kentucky State, Young was also a forward on the university's basketball team, and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, where he served as the vice president. He became the president of his senior class, and graduated in 1941.