<P> The ACLU was founded in 1920 by Helen Keller, Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, Walter Nelles, Morris Ernst, Albert DeSilver, Arthur Garfield Hays, Jane Addams, Felix Frankfurter, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and its focus was on freedom of speech, primarily for anti-war protesters . During the 1920s, the ACLU expanded its scope to include protecting the free speech rights of artists and striking workers, and working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to decrease racism and discrimination . During the 1930s, the ACLU started to engage in work combating police misconduct and supporting Native American rights . Many of the ACLU's cases involved the defense of Communist party members and Jehovah's Witnesses . In 1940, the ACLU leadership voted to exclude Communists from its leadership positions, a decision rescinded in 1968 . During World War II, the ACLU defended Japanese - American citizens, unsuccessfully trying to prevent their forcible relocation to internment camps . During the Cold War, the ACLU headquarters was dominated by anti-Communists, but many local affiliates defended members of the Communist Party . </P> <P> By 1964, membership had risen to 80,000, and the ACLU participated in efforts to expand civil liberties . In the 1960s, the ACLU continued its decades - long effort to enforce separation of church and state . It defended several anti-war activists during the Vietnam War . The ACLU was involved in the Miranda case, which addressed conduct by police during interrogations, and in the New York Times case, which established new protections for newspapers reporting on government activities . In the 1970s and 1980s, the ACLU ventured into new legal areas, involving the rights of homosexuals, students, prisoners, and the poor . In the twenty - first century, the ACLU has fought the teaching of creationism in public schools and challenged some provisions of anti-terrorism legislation as infringing on privacy and civil liberties . Fundraising and membership spiked after the 2016 election; the ACLU's current membership is more than 1.2 million . </P> <P> The ACLU is led by a president and an executive director, Susan N. Herman and Anthony Romero, respectively, in 2015 . The president acts as chairman of the ACLU's board of directors, leads fundraising, and facilitates policy - setting . The executive director manages the day - to - day operations of the organization . The board of directors consists of 80 persons, including representatives from each state affiliate, as well as at - large delegates . The organization has its headquarters in 125 Broad Street, a 40 - story skyscraper located in Lower Manhattan, New York City . </P> <P> The leadership of the ACLU does not always agree on policy decisions; differences of opinion within the ACLU leadership have sometimes grown into major debates . In 1937, an internal debate erupted over whether to defend Henry Ford's right to distribute anti-union literature . In 1939, a heated debate took place over whether to prohibit communists from serving in ACLU leadership roles . During the early 1950s and Cold War McCarthyism, the board was divided on whether to defend communists . In 1968, a schism formed over whether to represent Dr. Benjamin Spock's anti-war activism . In 1973, there was internal conflict over whether to call for the impeachment of Richard Nixon . In 2005, there was internal conflict about whether or not a gag rule should be imposed on ACLU employees to prevent publication of internal disputes . </P>

Executive director of the american civil liberties union of virginia