A Search for Equality: The National Urban League, 1910-1961 by Jesse Thomas Moore,
Review by: Clayborne Carson
The Journal of American History, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Jun., 1982), pp. 194-195
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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The Journal
ofAmericanHistory
194
perOne of the themesof this studyis that therehas been a surprising
sistencein middleclass attitudestowardthe poor over one hundredyears.
large
These attitudescan be summarized:most of the poor are undeserving;
ifnot imnumbersof the poorlive in a "cultureofpoverty"thatis difficult
to aid
possibleto overcome;social insuranceis betterthanwelfare;all efforts
and work,not a guaranteedstandardoflivthepoormustemphasizeself-help
ing. Of course,thereweresome in everyperiodwho spokeout againstthese
assumptionsand soughtmoreradicalsolutions,but the dominantattitudes
policy.
persistedandinfluenced
shifts
in
policyin 1930, 1960, and 1965. He sortsout and
Pattersonsees
thatdefinedthoseshifts,
describesthecomplexseriesofactsandorganizations
thecomplexproblemof
a
handbook.
He
also
discusses
makinghis book useful
periods.He makesclearthatbyanystanwhatconstituted
povertyin different
dardpovertyhas decreasedin the UnitedStatesin the twentiethcentury.In
1965dollars,thosefamilieswithannualincomesbelow$3,000constituted17
percentofall familiesin 1965,30 percentin 1950,and 67 percentin 1896.The
yet
ofpovertyin the 1960s came at a timeofrelativeprosperity,
rediscovery
fromthatin the 1930sorthe 1890sin large
thenatureofpovertywas different
partbecauseofrisingexpectations.
ofthisbookis thecomparative
dimensionwhich
One ofthemanystrengths
is offered
fromtimeto time. By worldstandardseven thepoorestAmericans
werewelloffin the1960s.But,ofcourse,thepoorin HarlanCounty,Kentucky,
didnotcomparethemselveswiththoselivingin AfricaorAsia,butwiththose
Yet afteran outburstof
Americanstheysaw in televisionadvertisements.
legislationin the 1960s, which Pattersoncalls a "revolutionin social welindustrialnafare,"the UnitedStatesstill rankedtwentiethof twenty-one
ofgrossnationalproductspenton
tions(aheadonlyofJapan)in thepercentage
social welfare.
Pattersondoes not tryto predictthe future,but his argumentforthe persistenceofattitudestowardpovertycan be documentedbyreadingthemorncriticwrotein 1964,
ingpaper."The onlysolutionto poverty,"a conservative
"is freeenterprise
and continuedeconomicgrowth-thosethingswhichmade
"
Americagreat.
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
ALLEN F. DAVIS
A Search for Equality: The National Urban League, 1910-1961. By Jesse
Thomas Moore, Jr.(UniversityPark: PennsylvaniaState UniversityPress,
1981.xv + 252 pp. Tables,notes,bibliographic
note,andindex.$17.95.)
This studyoftheNationalUrbanLeague (NUL) tellsa familiartale ofpatient
supplicantswho receivedlittlebeneficencedespitetheirhabitualloyaltyto
thosewithpower,theirconstantconcernforthe interestsand reputationsof
therich,andtheirsteadfast
refusalto abandonborrowedvaluesor subordinate
social roles.Whilepolitelynotingthesincerity
ofNUL leaders,JesseThomas
Moore,Jr.,identifiesfewsubstantialracialgainsresultingfromthe organization's strategyof linkingblack goals with the interestof whitecapital and
power.Thus, despitethe NUL's efforts
to recruitblacks into the industrial
workforce,"bigbusinesswas notfinancially
generoustotheNUL"; despitethe
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Book Reviews
195
NUL's relianceon thesupportofwealthywhitesratherthanmilitantblacks,it
could not act effectively
againstracial discrimination,
even in a housing
in whichtheNUL presidenthad financialinterests;despitethe
development
staunchRepublicanismof NUL executivedirectorLesterGranger,the NUL
was notevenregularly
invitedto WhiteHouse meetingson racialmattersduringthe DwightD. Eisenhowerpresidency,
a factthatforcedGrangerto concludethatEisenhowerwas ignorant
aboutblackaffairs.
Yet, even while he suppliesmuch evidenceto supportthe conclusionthat
theNUL accomplished"littlemorethanto assisturbanNegroesin integrating
themselvesintothelowestlevels oftheindustrialworld,"thereis a striking
contrastbetweenMoore'seagernessto detailtheineffectiveness
oftheNUL as
an agent for social change and his reluctanceto examine criticallythe
ideologicalassumptionsunderlying
NUL policies. He directshis arguments
againstthe view that the NUL remainedmooredto the accommodationist
philosophyofBookerT. Washington,
insistinginsteadthatprogressive
reform
ideasinfluenced
theUrbanLeague'sfounders
as well as theearlyleadersofthe
NationalAssociationfortheAdvancement
ofColoredPeopleand mostsubsequentmainstreamcivil rightsleaders.All are seen as sharinga beliefthat
"educatedand materiallywell-off
individuals"had a "responsibility
to direct
orrestraintheundisciplined
masses." AlthoughMooreimpliesthattheleague
shouldhave adjustedmorefullyin responseto the civil rightsprotestmovement,he applaudsit forstressing"intelligentdiscussionratherthaninflam-
matory discourse . . . calm analysis rather than hate." Clearly missing is a
criticalanalysisoftheeffectiveness
ofcivility,social assuagement,and statisas
for
ticalmuckraking strategies eliminating
deeplyrootedracialoppression.
The most originaland importantsectionsof Moore's book deal with the
periodafter1940, when Grangerkepta firmgraspon the NUL's leadership
in accountingfor
reins. Moore shares with other observersa difficulty
Granger'sswiftmove to therightafterthe 1930s,but the tenuousnessofthe
NUL leader'smarginalrolebetweenthe swellingtideofblackdiscontentand
thefirmrockofwhiteindifference
is fullydescribed.
Moore's importantscholarlycontributionis sometimesunderminedby
In spiteoflapsesin writingstyle,
lacklusterdictionanduninspired
transitions.
the
book
an
however,
displays impressiverangeofresearchand an admirable
willingnessto movebeyondnarrowinstitutional
historytowarda comprehensiveviewofblackurbanlifein thetwentieth
century.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
CLAYBORNE CARSON
Women,War,and Work:TheImpactofWorldWarI on WomenWorkers
in the
UnitedStates.By MaurineWeinerGreenwald.(Westport:Greenwood,1980.
xxvii + 309 pp. Illustrations,tables,chart,notes, bibliography,
and index.
$27.50.)
Buildingher analysis aroundthreecase studies of women streetcar conductors,railroadworkers,and telephoneoperators,MaureenWeinerGreenwald has writtena useful,well-documented
book aboutwomenworkersduring the WorldWarI era. Her overallinterpretation
is thatWorldWarI highlightedthestructural
problemswhichwomenfacedin thelaborforce.The war
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