The History of National Caucus on the Black Aged

NCBA began as an ad hoc organization in 1970 led by the late Hobart C. Jackson of Philadelphia, a nursing home professional, and well respected champion of the African American elderly. Mr. Jackson and a group of concerned citizens organized The National Caucus on Black Aged to assure that the upcoming 1971 White House Conference on Aging would address the particular needs of African American elderly.

The National Caucus on the Black Aged was established in October 1972. The Caucus existed as an advocacy group until 1973 when it received a grant from the Administration on Aging (AoA) to conduct research, train personnel and serve as a technical resource. The National Center on Black Aged was established to administer the AoA grant.

The Caucus held the "National Conference on the Black Elderly" in November 1971, one month before the White House Conference on Aging. Over 800 representatives from 19 states and the District of Columbia participated at the conference. This event was the first of twenty-five national conferences sponsored by NCBA. Its May 1973 conference in Washington, D.C., entitled "Action for Aged Blacks: When?" drew national participation and established its enduring identity as an effective advocacy organization.

NCBA expanded its programs to include senior housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commissioned NCBA to develop a housing project for low-income elderly in Washington, D.C. The NCBA Housing Management Corporation was established in 1977 to manage the effort, funded under HUD's Section 202 Program.

In 1978, The National Caucus and Center on Black Aged received a major grant from the U.S. Labor Department to operate the Senior Community Service Employment Program in five states. In 1984, NCBA became one of six national sponsors of the Senior Environmental Employment Program, which is administered by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through cooperative agreements or grants with private, nonprofit organizations.

NCBA Established the Living Legacy Program in 1979 to honor unsung older African Americans who have made important contributions to our country. Too often those heroes died without society benefiting from awareness of their legacy or the opportunity to demonstrate its gratitude in a meaningful way. The Living Legacy Award was NCBA's effort to correct that oversight by honoring those outstanding elders during their lifetimes and to offer their achievements as examples to our nation's young people. Awardees had distinguished themselves in human services, education, government, literature, science and health, performing and fine arts, sports, community service and religion, advocacy. The last award year was 1995.

The Boards of The National Caucus on Black Aged and The National Center on Black Aged determined that the objectives of the two separate organizations would be better served under a single banner. In 1981, the two organizations merged and became The National Caucus and Center on Black Aged.

NCBA created the Partnership for Health in 1992, to collaborate with federal, state, and local organizations and consumers to deliver health promotion, health education, and wellness activities to enable mature African American and minority men and women to improve their health status and quality of life. In 1998 the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc. held its first national health symposium entitled "Health Status of African American Elders: Implications for the Next Millennium" designed to specifically encourage communities to take action to eliminate health disparities. The success of that event provided the momentum for NCBA's second national health symposium entitled "Eliminating Racial and Health Disparities Among African American Elderly: Celebrating Our Achievements, Envisioning Our Future, held in 2001.