New Orleans Improvement League: Fighting for integration in the shadows of the NAACP
Sometimes a simple question can lead you down a rabbit hole. That’s the enjoyment of reference, your ability to learn something new while helping a patron in their own research. In this case, someone looking for a speech led to a little-known organization, the New Orleans Improvement League, whose story had a far-reaching impact on the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans. The mid-1950s saw great strides in federal de-segregation, but not everyone agreed with it. For those wh