In 1920 a small group of far-sighted Fort Wayne African Americans, noting the rising throngs of their fellowmen moving northward from the South, decided the new immigrants needed an agency to help them cope with problems they met in their new environment. They formed the Fort Wayne Community Association, precursor of the present Fort Wayne Urban League. They called their home the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and worked primarily to provide organized recreation and social groups. In 1948 the National Urban League conducted a study of the local organization’s needs and potential. Its far-seeing leaders knew that to remain a viable organization it must develop programs geared more specifically to housing, employment and industrial relations, community organization and race relations. As a result, on October 1, 1949, the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center was disbanded and the association became known only as the Fort Wayne Urban League.

During the last eight decades, the Fort Wayne Urban League has provided a wide variety of services to help thousand of diverse Fort Wayne residents reach their potential, and achieve self-sufficiency for themselves and their families. It has also served as a significant recruitment source for employers seeking to develop an inclusive workforce. Today the Fort Wayne Urban League continues to fulfill its mission through the delivery of programs that address contemporary needs, as we pursue our vision “to be the premier catalyst for positive change in the quality of life for African Americans and others in the greater Fort Wayne Community.”