For more than ninety one years, the NAACP has been built on the individual and collective courage of thousands of people. People of all races, nationalities and religious denominations, who were united on one premise --that all men and women are created equal.
Although, one could write great prose about the triumphs of the NAACP, there is nothing more powerful than the facts of how the existence of the oldest civil rights organization has changed the face of history for this country. And despite threats of violence, and official government policies that were racist the NAACP continued and will continue to persevere.
Here are just a few of the NAACPs hundreds and thousands of courageous moments that involved everyone from school children to laborers to professionals to presidents to just ordinary men and women, who decided to champion whats right and just on an extraordinary level...
Timeline 1900 - 1918 |
1920 - 1922 | 1930 - 1939
1900 - 1918 This timeline is courtesy of the official website of the National
Association of the Advancement of Colored People. Copyright
2001 by NAACP and Sherm Dilla Productions. All rights reserved.
1940 - 1948 | 1960 - 1979
| 1980 - 1989
1990 - 1999 | 2000->
1909
On February 12th The National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People was founded by a multiracial group of activists, who answered "The Call."
They initially called themselves the National Negro Committee.
1910
In the face of intense adversity, the NAACP begins its legacy of fighting legal
battles addressing social injustice with the Pink Franklin case, which involved
a Black farmhand, who unbeknowingly killed a policeman in self-defense when
the officer broke into his home at 3 a.m. to arrest him on a civil charge. After
losing at the Supreme Court, the following year the renowned NAACP official
Joel Spingarn and his brother Arthur start a concerted effort to fight such
cases.
1913
President Woodrow Wilson officially introduces segregation into the Federal
Government. Horrified that President would sanction such a policy, the NAACP
launched a public protest.
1915
The NAACP organizes a nationwide protest D.W. Griffiths racially-inflammatory
and bigoted silent film, "Birth of a Nation."
1917
In Buchanan vs. Warley, the Supreme Court has to concede that states can not
restrict and officially segregate African Americans into residential districts.
Also, the NAACP fights and wins the battle to enable African Americans to be
commissioned as officers in World War I. Six hundred officers are commissioned,
and 700,000 register for the draft..
1918
After persistent pressure by the NAACP, President Woodrow Wilson finally makes
a public statement against lynching.
1920 - 1922
1920
To ensure that everyone, especially the Klan, knew that the NAACP would not
be intimidated, the annual conference was held in Atlanta, considered one of
the most active Klan areas.
1922
In an unprecedented move, the NAACP places large ads in major newspapers to
present the facts about lynching.
1930 - 1939
1930
The first of successful protests by the NAACP against Supreme Court justice
nominees is launched against John Parker, who officially favored laws that discriminated
against African Americans.
1935
NAACP lawyers Charles Houston and Thurgood Marshall win the legal battle to
admit a black student to the University of Maryland.
1939
After the Daughters of the Revolution barred acclaimed soprano Marian Anderson
from performing at their Constitution Hall, the NAACP moved her concert to the
Lincoln Memorial, where over 75,000 people attended.
1940 - 1948
1941
During World War II, the NAACP leads the effort to ensure that President
Franklin Roosevelt orders a non-discrimination policy in war-related industries
and federal employment.
1945
NAACP starts a national outcry when Congress refuses to fund their own Federal
Fair Roosevelt Employment Practices Commission.
1946
The NAACP wins the Morgan vs. Virginia case, where the Supreme Court bans states
from having laws that sanction segregated facilities in interstate travel by
train and bus.
1948
The NAACP was able to pressure President Harry Truman to sign an Executive Order
banning discrimination by the Federal government.
1950 - 1955
1954
After years of fighting segregation in public schools, under the leadership
of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP wins one of its greatest legal
victories in Brown vs. the Board of Education.
1955
NAACP member Rosa Parks is arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat
on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Noted as the catalyst for the largest
grassroots civil rights movement, that would be spearheaded through the collective
efforts of the NAACP, SCLC and other Black organizations.
1960 - 1979
1960
In Greensboro, North Carolina, members of the NAACP Youth Council launch
a series of non-violent sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. These protests
eventually lead to more than 60 stores officially desegregating their counters.
1963
After one of his many successful mass rallies for civil rights, NAACP's
first Field Director, Medgar Evers is assassinated in front of his house in
Jackson, Mississippi. Five months later, President John Kennedy was also assassinated.
1963
NAACP pushes for the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
1964
U.S. Supreme Court ends the eight year effort of Alabama officials to ban NAACP
activities. And 55 years after the NAACP's founding, Congress finally passes
the Civil Rights Act.
1965
The Voting Rights Act is passed. Amidst threats of violence and efforts of state
and local governments, the NAACP still manages to register more than 80,000
voters in the Old South.
1979
The NAACP initiates the first bill ever signed by a governor that allows voter
registration in high schools. Soon after, 24 states follow suit.
1980 - 1989
1981
The NAACP leads the effort to extend The Voting Rights Act for another 25
years. To cultivate economic empowerment, the NAACP establishes the Fair Share
Program with major corporations across the country.
1982
NAACP registers more than 850,000 voters, and through its protests and the support
of the Supreme Court, prevents President Reagan from giving a tax-break to the
racially segregated Bob Jones University.
1985
The NAACP leads a massive anti-apartheid rally in New York.
1987
NAACP launches campaign to defeat the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the
Supreme Court. As a result, he garners the highest negative vote ever recorded
for a 1989 Silent March of over 100,000 to protest U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
1989
Silent March of over 100,000 to protest U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have
reversed many of the gains made against discrimination.
1990 - 1999
1991
When avowed racist and former Klan leader David Duke runs for US Senate
in Louisiana, the NAACP launches a voter registration campaign that yields a
76 percent turn-out of Black voters to defeat Duke.
1992
The number of Fair Share Program corporate partners has risen to 70 and now
represents billions of dollars in business.
1995
Over thirty years after the assassination of NAACP civil rights activist, Medgar
Evers - his widow Myrlie, is elected Chairman of the NAACP's Board of Directors.
The following year, the Kweisi Mfume leaves Congress to become the NAACPs President
and CEO.
1997
In response to the pervasive anti-affirmative action legislation occurring around
the country, the NAACP launches the Economic Reciprocity Program... And in response
to increased violence among our youth, the NAACP starts the "Stop The Violence,
Start the Love' campaign.
1998
Supreme Court Demonstration and arrests
1999
March on Columbia
2000->
2000
TV Diversity Agreements. Retirement of the Debt and first six years of a
budget surplus. Largest Black Voter Turnout in 20 years
2001
Cincinnati Riots. Development of 5 year Strategic Plan.
Under the leadership of Chairman Bond and President Mfume, the NAACP continues
to thrive, and with the help of everyone - regardless of race - will continue
to do so into the next millennium...