steel, as did the prices for fish and lumber. Prosperity returned in World War II, especially as Halifax again became a major staging point for convoys to Britain. Liberal premier Angus L. Macdonald dominated the political scene as premier (1933–40 and 1945–54). Macdonald dealt with the mass unemployment of the 1930s by putting the jobless to work on highway projects. He felt direct government relief payments would weaken moral character, undermine self-respect and discourage personal initiative. However, he also faced the reality that his financially strapped government could not afford to participate fully in federal relief programs that required matching contributions from the provinces. The Antigonish Movement emerged offering a "middle way" to helping people distressed hit by the depression through cooperative ventures under popular control. It was a Catholic operation started by Reverend Moses Coady of St Francis Xavier University in 1928. He sought a Church-approved alternative to socialism or capitalism. The cooperatives were organized at the grass roots and brought together fishermen, farmers, miners and factory workers, especially in the eastern districts. They set up local fish processing plants, credit unions, housing co-ops, and co-operative stores. Ownership and control was in the hands of the people directly involved It declined after 1950. During World War II, thousands of Nova Scotians went overseas. Halifax became a key staging point for the Atlantic convoys, and the Navy base at CFB Halifax became the HQs of Rear Admiral Leonard W. Murray during the Battle of the Atlantic. One Nova Scotian, Mona Louise Parsons, joined the Dutch resistance and was eventually captured and imprisoned by the Nazis for almost four years. Latter 20th century (1945–2000) Led by minister William Pearly Oliver, the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People was formed in 1945 out of the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. The organization was intent of improving the standard of living for Black Nova Scotians. The organization also attempted to improve black-white relations in co-operation with private and governmental agencies. The organization was joined by 500 Black Nova Scotians. By 1956, the NSAACP had branches in Halifax, Cobequid Road, Digby, Wegymouth Falls, Beechville, Inglewooe, Hammonds Plains and Yarmouth. Preston and Africville branches were added in 1962, the same year New Road, Cherrybrook, and Preston East requested branches. In 1947, the Association successfully took the case of Viola Desmond to the Supreme Court of Canada It also pressured the Children's Hospital in