Lester Blackwell Granger (September 16, 1896 – January 9, 1976) was an African American social worker, and civic leader who headed the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961.

Initially planning to become a minister, Ran, with the guidance of Mary Lou, decided to go to medical school at the University of Vermont while she would stay in Virginia as a teacher until he graduated in the winter of 1889.

Due to the racial climate, the Grangers would leave Arkansas within a year and move to Guthrie, Oklahoma, a rapidly growing African American community.

In 1895 the Grangers packed up again due to Jim Crow laws in Oklahoma, and moved back east to Newport News, Virginia; it was here where Ran would become one of the leading Black physicians in the city.

[2] Once again unsatisfied with the treatment of African Americans in the area, the Grangers would be on the move, this time to Newark, New Jersey; this is where Lester would spend the majority of his childhood.

[5] During his first year as the leader of the NUL, Granger led its effort to support the March on Washington proposed by A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and A. J. Muste to protest racial discrimination in defense work and the armed forces.

Following World War II, the NUL shifted their focus to fund raising, and providing economic opportunities for African Americans to go to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

In 1958 the NUL joined A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, MLK, and Roy Wilkins in discussing civil rights with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

[12][13] The Tucker Foundation annually presents The Lester Granger 18 Award to a Dartmouth College graduate whose commitment to public service, social activism or nonprofit professions has been exemplary.