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Organizations

Civil and Political Rights

What is the National Urban League Guild?

Mollie Moon (1912–1990) was the organizer and founding president of the National Urban League Guild, a fundraising organization for the league, established in 1942. She headed the organization until her death. Moon was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, with a degree in pharmacy. She worked as a pharmacist in New Orleans; Gary, Indiana; and New York City. She became interested in social work, however, and left pharmacy to work with the Department of Social Services in New York City. She had wide contacts in New York’s social circles and used her connections to help support the National Urban League. Moon and a group of friends held a benefit for the league in early 1942; the Victory Cocktail Party was highly successful and became a New York tradition. The black-tie ball continued to be held each February and was renamed the Beaux Arts Ball. Moon became the founding president of the Council of Urban League Guilds that functioned to raise money for the league. At the time of her death in 1990, she had been its only president.



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