Neighborhood Union (Atlanta, Ga.)

The Neighborhood Union, an African American service organization, was organized in Atlanta, Georgia in 1908 under the leadership of Lugenia Burns Hope. Adopting the motto "Thy Neighbor as Thyself," the union proclaimed its mission to build playgrounds, clubs, and neighborhood centers; to develop a spirit of comradeship among neighbors; to promote child welfare; to impart a sense of cultural heritage; to abolish slums and vice; and to improve the overall moral quality of the community. To carry out its work, the city was divided into zones, led by zone chairpersons, district directors, and neighborhood presidents and supervised by a board of directors and a board of managers. The Neighborhood Union disbanded in the mid 1960's, giving a portion of its land to the Fulton County Board of Health which, in return, built and staffed the Neighborhood Union Health Center.