Children's Defense Fund - History

History

CDF grew out of the Civil Rights Movement under the leadership of Marian Wright Edelman who remains its President. CDF traces its heritage to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his Poor People’s Campaign that fought for social and economic justice for all in the 1960s.

Mrs. Edelman—a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School—witnessed abject poverty first-hand in the Mississippi Delta and worked with Dr. King and Senator Robert Kennedy in the 1960s to help the millions of poor people in America. Mrs. Edelman then moved to Washington, D.C., and founded CDF to continue Dr. King’s call for justice for the poor and to ensure a level playing field for all children in America.

CDF is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has offices in several states around the country: California, Minnesota, New York, Louisiana, Ohio, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. CDF programs operate in 24 states and the National Outreach staff also works on the ground and with partners in all 50 states.

Since its founding, CDF has helped pass several critical pieces of legislation, like the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act and programs involving issues of disabled children, early childhood education, health care and child welfare; ran several public awareness campaigns including the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign and the gun violence prevention campaign. CDF has also published a number of reports, including the State of America’s Children, educating the public on the issues facing children.