Pierce, Joseph A. (Joseph Alphonso), 1902-

Atlanta University and the National Urban League conducted a research project from February 1, 1944 through February 1, 1946 to study Negro business and business education. Financed by the General Education Board, the project was carried out through cooperative efforts of local chapters of the National Urban League, the National Negro Business League, the National Housing Agency, the National Negro Insurance Association, 23 Negro colleges and universities, the U.S. Bureau of Census, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The project was administered by Franklin O. Nichols, Southern Regional Director of the National Urban League, and the research directed by Dr. Joseph A. Pierce, a professor of Mathematics and Statistics, Atlanta University. The project studied the status of Negro business, its needs, opportunities for expansion, projections for the future, and how well business education at Negro colleges met the needs and planned for opportunities in business. The project was launched at a conference held at Atlanta University on February 24, 1944. The findings of the project were published in Negro Business and Business Education, Their Present and Prospective Development by Joseph A. Pierce (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1947).