National Lutheran Council. Division of American Missions. Office for Human Relations.

The National Lutheran Council (NLC) was formed on September 6, 1918 as a common agency of participating Lutheran church bodies to admninister domestic programs, publicize Lutheran activities and beliefs, and provide overseas emergency relief to areas devastated by World War I. In 1951, the NLC 's Division of American Missions took over the sponsorship and cultivation of the American Lutheran Church and Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church's mission work in and for African-American churches. The Church Work in Negro Communities program, headed by secretary Ervin E. Krebs, provided financial support to congregations and schools across the.

Country, assisted the church bodies in planning and carrying out mission work, and provided consultative servies to congregations in communities of racial transition. In 1956, the Division established the Office for Intercultural Outreach in an effort to broaden the scope of its ministry to include other minority groups. This Office, was restructured and renamed the Office for Human Relations in 1962. Secretaries heading the program included Alf M. Kraabel (1956-1959) and Lawrence W. Halvorson (1960-1964).