National Conference For Community and Justice - History

History

In 1927, The New York Times announced the founding of the National Conference of Christians and Jews by community leaders from different faiths including Jane Addams, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and Benjamin N. Cardozo. The founders were committed to bringing diverse people together to address interfaith divisions, race relations, and social and economic barriers among people of different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities.

The Tolerance Trio, consisting of a Minister, a Rabbi, and a Priest, traveled across America in 1933, calling all people to embrace intergroup understanding. The Trio covered over 9,000 miles, visiting 129 audiences around the country. One year later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the precursor of Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week, held annually during the third week in February, as its first Honorary Chairman. During the second World War, the NCCJ religious trio provided spiritual guidance to the armed forces, reaching over eight million enlistees.

In the 1950s, the NCCJ began its award-winning residential youth leadership institutes, including their Anytown program, all of which are still offered across America. In addition to Anytown, programs such as the Brotherhood/Sisterhood Camp, Mini-Town, MetroTown, It's Your Move, Unitown, Building Bridges, Camp Odyssey, and Knowledge and Social Responsibility were formed during this time, helping to spread the NCCJ's message across the country.

President John F. Kennedy commended the NCCJ in 1961 for doing more than "perhaps any other factor in our national life to provide for harmonious living among our different religious groups." In 1977, the NCCJ led a nationwide series of institutes on the Holocaust, leading to an Act of Congress establishing the National Holocaust Remembrance Week. Nearly a decade later, the organization established the precursor to today's Seminarians Interacting initiative. In 1994, the NCCJ issued a groundbreaking nationwide survey of attitudes on intergroup relations called Taking America's Pulse.

One year later, the NCCJ started a series of nationally telecast National Conversations on Race, Ethnicity, and Culture at the Library of Congress. Partnering with Aetna, Inc., these Conversations were created to enlighten people about the various cultures that exist within society, to encourage and broaden dialogue among people who have limited interaction with those of different backgrounds, and to create more welcoming environments in the workplace and society at large.

At the White House's request, the organization convened faith leaders and began a long-term racial reconciliation in 1998. Two years later, the NCCJ issued its second nationwide survey of attitudes on intergroup relations, Taking America's Pulse II. Today, the NCCJ's mission, as it has been in the past, is to eliminate all forms of prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination. The organization's programming, research, and public policy efforts are directed at transforming our communities to make them more inclusive and just for all.