The Pursuit of Happiness: Racial Utilitarianism and Black Reform Efforts in John T. Clark’s Urban League

Abstract

This article centers on John T. Clark’s tenure as executive secretary of the Urban League of Pittsburgh (ULP) to introduce a new characterization of black reform efforts that I call racial utilitarianism. Operating at the nadir of American race relations, Urban Leaguers like Clark developed pragmatic reform strategies to mitigate the most serious physical manifestations of northern-style Jim Crow, including underemployment, inadequate housing, and disease. In pursuing their vision of the greater good, they dealt with what they saw as internal and external sources of inequality. Under Clark’s leadership, ULP staff strove to “adjust” black migrant behavior while lobbying white employers to open skilled positions to black workers and pressuring local unions to eliminate racially restrictive clauses. By sponsoring programs to inculcate migrants with the values of thrift, sobriety, hard work, and company loyalty, Clark obtained funding for the ULP, with which it developed crucial health programs in Pittsburgh’s black community.