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Lester Granger, Urban League Administrator born

Lester Granger

*Lester Granger was born on this date in 1896. He was a Black civic leader.

From Newport News, Va., Lester Blackwell Granger was one of six sons whose father was a doctor from Barbados; his mother was a teacher.  He grew up in Newark, NJ, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1918. after serving in the US Army during World War I, he worked briefly for the Newark chapter of the National Urban League (NUL).

In 1922, Granger was an extension worker with the New Jersey State Vocational School for Black youth in Bordentown, where he stayed until 1934.  During this time, he also organized the Los Angeles chapter of the NUL.  In 1934, he led the organization's efforts to promote trade unionism among Black workers and challenge racism by employers and labor organizations.

In 1940, Granger was chosen as the NUL’s assistant executive secretary in industrial relations, a post he stayed with for the next twenty years. During World War II, he was an up-and-down participant in eliminating military and defense employment segregation.  When the American Civil Rights Movement of 1950 began, and insistence on a more aggressive approach became the norm, Granger insisted that the NUL continue its “education and persuasion,” a position that prevailed. He remained a leading figure in social work over the years, serving as president of the National Conference of Social Work in 1952.

Granger retired from the NUL in 1961 and joined the faculty of Dillard University in New Orleans, LA. In 1972, he was named Amistad Scholar in Residence at Dillard; Lester Granger died in Alexandria, LA, in January 1976.

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