Los Angeles Urban League Records, 1933-1945
Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé and edited by Josh
Fiala.
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Los Angeles Urban League Records,
Date (inclusive): 1933-1945
Collection number: 203
Creator: Los Angeles Urban League
Extent: 2 boxes (1 linear ft.)
Abstract: The Los Angeles branch of the National Urban League stems from a 1921 organization founded by Katherine Barr and others who
attended Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The league gathered information about racial discrimination
against African Americans and other minorities in jobs, health services, and housing; helped develop fair employment programs
during World War II, and was active in the formation of the City Human Relations Commission. The collection consists of correspondence
and papers relating to African Americans, immigrant labor and problems of social planning in Los Angeles.
Language:
English
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Los Angeles Urban League Records (Collection 203). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E.
Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
The Los Angeles branch of the National Urban League stems from a 1921 organization founded by Katherine Barr and others who
attended Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute in Alabama; gathered information about racial discrimination against African
Americans and other minorities in jobs, health services, and housing; helped develop fair employment programs during World
War II, and was active in the formation of the City Human Relations Commission; membership changed from 90% black in 1970
to 40% Hispanic by the late 1990s; works in partnership with business and government to serve disadvantaged and poor people.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to African Americans, immigrant labor and problems of social planning
in Los Angeles. Correspondents include Ralph Bunche, and papers include Carey McWilliams' Report on importation of Negro labor
to California. Also contains forms related to the Carnegie-Myrdal study.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Los Angeles Urban League--Archives.
African Americans--Employment--California--Los Angeles.
African Americans--California--Los Angeles--Economic conditions.
Container List
Box 1, Folder 1
Research headings / resources, and unidentified typescript page,
undated.
Box 1, Folder 2
Bruce, Helen E.
Occupations for Negro Women in Los Angeles, 1933.
Box 1, Folder 4
Burch, Edward A.
Civil Rights and the Negro, 1936.
Box 1, Folder 5
Somerville, J.A.
The Negro in California (Somerville Study), 1936.
Box 1, Folder 6
Burch, Edward A.
Change in the Outlook of the Negro Client Toward the Negro Worker, 1938.
Box 1, Folder 7
Burger, Alice.
Negro Labor Unions in the Transportation Industry in Los Angeles, 1938.
Box 1, Folder 8
Burger, Alice.
The Vocational Guidance and Training of Negro Youth in Los Angeles, 1938.
Box 1, Folder 9
Glenn, Sollace, Harlem Artists Guild.
Survey of Number of Negro Artists Employed by the Federal Art Project [Letter only], undated.
Box 1, Folder 10
Evans, Roy.
Negro Building and Spending Power of Los Angeles, California, undated.
Box 1, Folder 11
O'Neal, Joseph B.
Vocation and Industry, 1939(?).
Box 1, Folder 12
Lamb, Bonnie Theodora. Letter to [Exploratory Committee on Negro Welfare?], 1939.
Box 1, Folder 13
Council of Social Agencies of Los Angeles. Division of Family Welfare and Adult Services Subcommittee on the Negro Community.
Findings, 1940.
Physical Description: (3 copies)
Box 1, Folder 14
Holton, Karl. Deteriorating Zone Committee. Notes on the Negro Districts in Los Angeles ... including “Central Avenue” Area,
1940.
Box 1, Folder 15
Eastside Labor's Protective Committee [Letterhead only], 1942.
Box 1, Folder 16
Gooden, J.E. “What can Negroes Do Themselves, in the Los Angeles Area, to Help Create a More Respectful Attitude on Part of
the White People of This Area” [questionnaire answer].
Box 1, Folder 17
Jones, Lillian.
The Negroes of Los Angeles, undated.
Box 1, Folder 18
Gowens, Norman C. Correspondence with Floyd Covington [Executive Director, Los Angeles Urban League]
re “The Right Action,” 1944.
Box 1, Folder 19
Houston, Norman O.
Survey on Negro Business and Businessmen, 1944.
Box 1, Folder 20
Simmons, Herbert. National Urban League, 1945.
Box 1, Folder 21
Institute of Social Research. Interview and survey instructions, undated.
Box 1, Folder 22
Miller, Loren [Survey response?], undated.
Box 1, Folder 23
McWilliams, Carey.
Report on Importation of Negro Labor to California. Division on Immigration and Housing, 1939-1942.
Box 1, Folder 24
Baruch, Dorothy W. Resumé and Guggenheim proposal, and related correspondence, 1943-1944.
Box 1, Folder 25
Floyd Covington / Charles S. Johnson (Fisk University) correspondence, 1940, 1942.
Box 1, Folder 26
Covington, Floyd. Employment figures of Negroes in War Industries (letter dated April 6, 1943), 1943.
Box 1, Folder 27
Covington, Floyd. Exploratory Survey Racial Tension Areas, 1942.
Box 1, Folder 28
Floyd Covington / Charles Johnson (Fisk University) correspondence, 1943.
Box 1, Folder 29
Taylor, Alfred Marie. Program Changes in Local Urban Leagues. Schedule and correspondence, 1943.
Box 1, Folder 30
Covington, Floyd. Field Report,
Trends of Race Relations, 1944.
Box 1, Folder 31
Floyd Covington / Charles Johnson [Fisk University] correspondence, 1944-1945.
Box 1, Folder 32
Smith, William T.
The Negro in Hollywood, n.d. [1937?].
Physical Description: (2 copies)
Box 1, Folder 33
Floyd Covington / Carnegie Institute correspondence
re
The Negro in Motion Pictures, 1940.
Box 1, Folder 34
Historical Background of Negro Survey, undated.
Box 2, Folder 1
Hart, LeRoy S.
The Negro is L.A. County, undated.
Box 2, Folder 2
“Negroes in Outstanding Positions and Who Have Achieved Much in the Several Fields of Business” (Charleston, West Virginia)--Letter
form I.J.K. Wells and nomination form, 1936.
Box 2, Folder 4
National Urban League correspondence, 1940.
Box 2
Carnegie-Myrdal Study, 1939-1940
Box 2, Folder 3
Correspondence from Ralph Bunche and questionnaire, 1939.
Box 3, Folder 3
The Carnegie-Myrdal study questionnaire
1939
Scope and Content Note
Questionnaire sent to Mr. Floyd C. Covington on the status of the Negro in the American life. Sent by Bunche in his capacity
as staff member of the Carnegie-Myrdal Study of the Negro in America.
Box 38, Folder 13
Letter, 1939 November 2, Washington D.C. to Mr. Floyd C. Covington, Los Angeles, California
1939 November 2
Scope and Content Note
Cover letter to Mr. Covington from Bunche, Staff Member, Carnegie-Myrdal Study of the Negro in America. Bunche introduces
the Carnegie Corporation which is sponsoring the survey on the status of the Negro in American life. Bunche requests that
Covington please take the time to answer the questionnaire.
Box 2, Folder 5
Outline and William Shapiro's Suggested Outline Negro Research Projects (California), 1940.
Box 2, Folder 6
Form 1) Community for which report is made, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 7
Form 2) Political Activity Schedule, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 8
Form 3) Recreation & Leisure Time Schedule, undated.
Box 2, Folder 9
Form 4) Survey of the Negro Wage Earner in Los Angeles, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 10
Form 5) Negro Business & Businesses, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 11
Form 6) Relief and Housing, 1940.
Box 2, Folder 12
Form 7) Churches & Lodges Schedule, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 13
Form 8) Education, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 14
Form 9) Migration Schedule, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 15
Form 10) Racial Attitudes Schedule, 1940(?).
Box 2, Folder 16
Incomplete copy [of study], 1940(?).
