The Vanguard League, Inc. was, until its dissolution about 1950, an organization composed almost entirely of African-Americans and devoted to eliminating discrimination in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Its stationery carried the following statements: “The Vanguard League has one purpose--to eliminate all racial discrimination; the Vanguard League has one method--inter-racial direct non-violent action.” It expected to become a parent organization based in Columbus, to which local groups in the area would look for leadership. The Vanguard League soon became affiliated with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); served as the host group for CORE's third annual national convention in 1945; and by 1950 seems to have become a chapter in the national organization, which was, itself, a federation of local inter-racial groups.
The Vanguard League was founded in Columbus in 1940 by attorney Frank C. Shearer, who became its president, and Mrs. Isabelle Lottier Myrick, who served as secretary through the decade of the 1940's. According to the organization's leaflets there were no membership restrictions; the general membership fee was one dollar.
