Jesse Edward Moorland (September 10, 1863 – April 30, 1940) was an American minister, community executive, civic leader and book collector. Born in

Coldwater, Ohio Coldwater is a village in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,427 at the 2010 census. History Coldwater was founded in 1838 and was originally called Buzzard's Glory for by David Buzzard who operated a general store. Cold ...

, he was the only child of a farming family. Moorland attended Northwestern Normal University in

Ada, Ohio Ada ; ; is a village in Hardin County, Ohio, United States, located about southwest of Toledo. The population was 5,952 at the 2010 census. History Following the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs, the Shawnee Indians held reservation land at Hog Cre ...

. Then he moved to Washington D. C., where he attended the Theological department of

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

and earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1891. He was ordained a Congressional minister. That same year he was hired as secretary of the Washington D.C. branch of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. Moorland devoted himself to black social organizations, such as the

National Afro-American League The National Afro-American League was formed on January 25, 1890, by Timothy Thomas Fortune. Preceding the foundation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the organization dedicated itself to racial solidarity ...

in the 1890s, and later the National Health Circle for Colored People, as important for building community strength. In 1914, Kelly Miller, a leading African-American intellectual, persuaded Moorland to donate his large private library on blacks in Africa and in the United States as the foundation for a proposed "Negro-Americana Museum and Library" at Howard University. This collection formed the foundation of the Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. In 1885 in Ohio Moorland married Lucy C Woodson, who was a granddaughter of Thomas and Jemima Woodson. Moorland was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Jesse Moorland died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

at the age of 76. He co-founded the

Association for the Study of Negro Life and History The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is an organization dedicated to the study and appreciation of African-American History. It is a non-profit organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, on September 9, 1915 ...

(ASNLH) with

Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...

in 1915.

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* * African-American religious leaders Howard University alumni People from Coldwater, Ohio 1863 births 1940 deaths Religious leaders from Ohio Ohio Northern University alumni American Congregationalist ministers Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. American book and manuscript collectors 20th-century African-American people {{Ohio-bio-stub