The National Council of Negro Women was founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) to "harness the power and extend the leadership of African American women." Early on, the Council campaigned to outlaw the discriminatory poll tax, develop a public health program, adopt anti-lynching legislation, and end discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces, defense industries and government housing. The Council's 1995 move to this grand, former hotel building made it the only African American organization owning property on historic Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House. The Council created the National Black Family Reunion Celebration in 1986.