Civil rights leader Nimrod Booker Allen was born in 1886, in Girard, Alabama. He came to Ohio to study at Wilberforce University, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in journalism.
After Allen graduated from Yale University in 1915 with a bachelor of sacred theology degreee, he made Columbus, Ohio, his home. His first position in Columbus was as the executive secretary of the YMCA Spring Street branch, which served the Black community.
During his time at the YMCA, the organization partnered with other groups like the NAACP and churches to create the Federated Social and Industrial Welfare Movement for the Negro to help African Americans migrating from the South adjust to their new lives in Columbus. In 1918, this group would become the Columbus Urban League, and Allen served as the organization’s executive secretary from 1921 until his retirement in 1954…