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Timeline NAACP History
(posted 20 Apr, 2008 at 21:23)
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," in the New York City, NY. They initially called themselves the National Negro Committee. FOUNDERS
Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling led the "Call" to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty. 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 Top 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 Top 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. 1935NAACP 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 Top 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 Top 1951
December 25, Harry T. Moore was killed when a bomb was placed beneath the floor joists directly under his bed; his wife, Harriette, died nine days later. 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 Top 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 Top 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 Top 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 2000 - Present Top 2000
TV Diversity Agreements. Retirement of the Debt and first six years of a budget surplus. Largest Black Voter Turnout in 20 years 2000
Great March. January 17, in Columbia, South Carolina attended by over 50,000 to protest the flying of the Confederate Battle Flag. This is the largest civil rights demonstration ever held in the South to date. 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...
House Passes NAACP Supported Union Bill
(posted 09 Apr, 2008 at 22:21)
On Thursday, March 1, the House of Representatives passed, by a margin of 241 yeas to 185 nays, H.R. 800, the "Employee Free Choice Act." This legislation will make sure workers have a fair chance to exercise their democratic right to choose a union by making it easier for a union to act as a mediator for workers if the majority of workers have provided authorized signatures indicating that they want the union to act as their representative, and increasing penalties for violations against employees who are trying to organize a union. Currently, union workers earn 26% more in median weekly wages than non-union workers; unionized women earn 31% more than their non-union counterparts, and black union workers earn 29% more than non-union African Americans. Furthermore, 75% of union workers have health benefits, compared to 49% of non-union workers. 69% of union workers have short-term disability coverage, compared to 30% of their non-union counterparts. Finally, 82% of union workers get life insurance, compared with 51% of non-union workers. The impact of unions � ensuring that all working Americans are treated well and share in the prosperity � cannot be overstated. Despite the continuing strength and advocacy power of unions, however, some employers continue to treat workers poorly, not paying them a fair wage or providing them with necessary benefits: the purchasing power of workers' wages is 5% below where it stood 30 years ago. CEO pay has continued to rise and is currently more than 1,000 times the earnings of the average worker. The richest 13,000 US families have nearly as much income as the poorest 200 million combined. And some employers continue to fight the legitimate organization of unions. 70% of American employers in manufacturing threaten to close the plant if workers choose a union. Furthermore, in the 1950's, when 30% of workers belonged to unions, only a few hundred workers suffered retaliation for trying to organize a union; in 1969, the number or workers suffering retaliation was just over 6,000 and by the 1990's more than 20,000 workers each year were victims of discrimination when they tried to organize a union.
NAACP RELEASES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CIVIL RIGHTS QUESTIONNAIRE
(posted 09 Apr, 2008 at 22:19)
Report provides candidates’ positions on key issues important to racial and ethnic minority Americans not covered in televised debates As Super Tuesday approaches, the NAACP today released its 2008 Presidential Candidates Civil Rights Questionnaire highlighting the presidential candidates’ positions on essential civil rights priorities facing our nation. The questionnaire is intended to educate NAACP members and the communities they serve on the presidential candidates’ positions on an array of civil rights, civil liberties and basic human needs priorities. “We trust that users will find this document to be an effective and thoughtful tool to assist them in making informed decisions before they head to the polls to cast their valuable vote,” said NAACP Interim President & CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes. Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau stated,” The NAACP’s Questionnaire topics include the candidates positions on: election and immigration reform, universal health care, criminal justice issues, predatory lending, public education, equal opportunity, gun violence prevention, affordable housing, fighting global poverty and disease, a living wage, African and Caribbean trade aid and development, ex-offender re-entry into society, DC Voting Rights and a host of crucial issues important to the African American community and others that value civil rights.” Beginning in late August, 2007, the NAACP Washington Bureau sent questionnaires to candidates for President of the United States from both parties. It was made clear that responses received would be reproduced and distributed to NAACP members and their communities. Candidates’ responses were limited to 200 words or less per question. Completed candidate questionnaires can be found on the NAACP website at www.naacp.org on the home page or under the Washington Bureau header
E-mails misrepresent NAACP's position on Dunbar Village case
(posted 09 Apr, 2008 at 22:17)
A series of viral e-mails circulating the Internet the past several days distort and misrepresent the NAACP’s stance on the Dunbar Village gang rape case that began last June in south Florida.
The NAACP does not condone violence against anyone. Any suggestion to the contrary is not credible in light of the Association’s long history of opposing violence against all persons.
In fact, it was the West Palm Beach Branch NAACP and area churches, among others, that provided assistance in the relocation of the victims in this horrific and inexplicable criminal matter. “The NAACP cares deeply that justice be applied equally, without regards to race, but cares just as deeply that guilty parties be held accountable for their actions,” said Adora Obi Nweze, president of the Florida State Conference, NAACP. The NAACP National Office nor the Florida NAACP have taken any formal position on the case and both believe this situation will benefit from well meaning, interested parties allowing the facts to become further known and letting defense lawyers do their work. “The lives of the victims in this case are irrevocably altered in the worst way,” said NAACP Interim President & CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes. “While we respect the judicial process and implore that equal justice be rendered for all involved, we must also focus on ending the continuing plague of violence in our communities.”
NAACP Rebukes School Board Member's Comments that Suggest 'Sterilization' of Single Mothers
(posted 09 Apr, 2008 at 22:15)
The NAACP National Office joins with the South Carolina State Conference NAACP and the Charleston Branch NAACP in denouncing the comments of county council candidate Nancy Cook, who also sits on the Charleston County School Board. While being interviewed on WTMA-AM's morning show April 3, Cook suggested that teen mothers and unmarried women who have more than one child should either be sterilized or have subsequent children removed from their custody. “Such comments are strikingly incendiary and offensive,” said NAACP Field Operations Chief Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III. “Her words are especially insulting coming from a female in the American South, where poor women were once involuntarily sterilized and often labeled as ‘unfit mothers’ because of their color or economic class.” In response to criticism of her words, Cook has been defensive and lacking in sincere regret. She has stated that her remarks were not intended to be racist and were made as a private citizen and from her perspective as a professional counselor, not as school board vice chairwoman. “An experienced politician and servant of the people should know better than to use such divisive words,” said South Carolina State Conference, NAACP President Lonnie Randolph, Jr. “It is regrettable that a public official who derives her livelihood from families in transition, and is sworn to serve the highest interests of children and families should appear to hold such contempt for them. They deserve better. Every decent caring citizen must expect better.” The NAACP stresses the need for Cook to recant her remarks and seek sensitivity training where she can fully understand why they were egregious and hurtful. The NAACP also urges others on the school board to denounce such despicable speech and issue a reprimand of Cook for her hateful words.
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