In Friendship: Northern Fundraising Network Supports Southern Civil Rights

In 1956, Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, and Stanley Levison found 'In Friendship,' a New York-based organization that raises funds for Southern civil rights victims facing economic retaliation — people fired, evicted, or denied credit for registering to vote or supporting the Montgomery Boycott. The organization is an early example of Northern-Southern civil rights infrastructure and establishes relationships that lead to the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. Ella Baker's organizing approach prioritizes grassroots leadership over charismatic individual leaders.