NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an important American civil rights group that began in 1909. It was created by people who wanted to help African Americans have equal rights. Some of the people who started it were W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Wald, Emil G. Hirsch and Henry Moskowitz. Over time, famous leaders like Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins have worked with the NAACP. It is the oldest and largest group fighting for civil rights in America.

Today, the NAACP works to make sure everyone has equal rights no matter their race. They try to change laws, share important messages, and use courts to support their goals. They also care about issues like fair treatment by police, helping black people who need to move to new countries, and improving jobs and economies for everyone.

The NAACP gives special awards each year to honor African Americans. These include the Image Awards for work in art and media, the Theatre Awards for stage performances, and the Spingarn Medals for any great achievement. The group's main office is located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Organization

The NAACP is based in Baltimore and has offices in New York, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and California. These offices help organize activities in different areas. Local groups, including those for young people and students, plan events for their members.

The NAACP is run by a group of 64 people, with one chosen to lead as chairperson. This group also picks a president and a chief executive officer. For many years, important leaders were the executive secretaries, such as James Weldon Johnson and Walter F. White. Different parts of the NAACP focus on specific jobs, like helping with laws in courts, working with schools, and supporting health for everyone.

As of 2007, the NAACP had around 425,000 members. The group's old papers are kept at the Library of Congress, and some are available online through ProQuest. These papers show the NAACP's work on important issues like fairness in schools and jobs.

Predecessor: The Niagara Movement

Main article: Niagara Movement

In 1901, a big fair in Buffalo, New York showed some unfair pictures of African-American life, which upset a woman named Mary Talbert from Ohio. She told a famous writer, W. E. B. Du Bois, and they decided to do something about it.

In 1905, thirty-two important African-American leaders met to talk about the unfair rules that made it hard for black people to vote. Because of these rules, many black people could not vote in the Southern states. The leaders met in Canada because hotels in the United States would not let black people and white people stay together. This group became known as the Niagara Movement. Later, three people who were not African American joined the group.

The Niagara Movement worked hard but had problems and eventually stopped in 1910. Some of its members later helped start the NAACP in 1909.

History

The Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois showed the urgent need for a civil rights organization in the U.S. Around that time, the rate of unfair treatments of Black people, especially men, was very high. In January 1909, Mary White Ovington, journalist William English Walling, and Henry Moskowitz met in New York City to organize for Black civil rights. They set a meeting for February 12, 1909, to honor the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, by a group that included W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Mary Church Terrell, Henry Moskowitz, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, Florence Kelley, Oswald Garrison Villard, and Charles Edward Russell. The group wanted to promote equality and justice for African Americans.

The NAACP grew quickly. By 1915, it had 50 branches and 6,000 members. After World War I, membership surged to over 90,000 by 1920. The organization focused on fighting unfair laws and segregation, working through lawsuits and public campaigns. It played key roles in important court cases and helped change laws to protect voting rights and end segregation.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the NAACP was very active in the Civil Rights Movement. It supported school desegregation, voting rights, and equal treatment. Leaders like Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins guided the organization through major changes in American law and society.

The NAACP continued to work for fairness and equality through the years, adapting to new challenges while staying focused on its mission to advance justice for all.

Local branch impact

The NAACP had a main office in New York and Washington, D.C., where they handled big projects and worked with lawyers from Howard University. But local groups were very important too. When the NAACP started campaigns, like against a famous movie or to stop unfair treatments, it was the local groups that helped in many communities.

These local groups helped change laws in many places, especially in the Northern and Western states before World War II. Later, when the civil rights movement grew stronger in the Southern U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s, both lawyers and many local groups worked together to make big changes. These local groups helped create a strong sense of getting fair treatment for everyone.

Current activities

Youth

Youth sections of the NAACP began in 1936, and today there are more than 600 groups with over 30,000 members. The NAACP Youth & College Division lets young people get involved. The Youth Council includes many groups at the state, county, high school, and college levels. Young volunteers work together to share ideas and tackle issues in their communities, sometimes even around the world.

Youth and College Division

The NAACP Youth & College Division aims to teach young people about challenges facing African Americans and other groups. It works to improve economic, educational, social, and political conditions and to build positive relationships between different peoples. The program also helps young people appreciate the history and achievements of African Americans and develop strong leadership skills.

ACT-SO program

Since 1978, the NAACP has run the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) program for high school students across the United States. This program honors African-American youth who excel in school, technology, and the arts. Local chapters hold competitions for students in grades 9–12. Winners move on to a national event held each summer in different places in the United States. National winners receive recognition, cash awards, and other prizes.

Environmental justice

The environmental justice group at NAACP has 11 full-time staff members. In April 2019, the NAACP shared a report about how some fossil fuel companies try to influence the organization. The report mentioned that some utilities have given large amounts of money to NAACP chapters in exchange for support on certain issues. In response, the NAACP is working with its chapters to promote policies that are good for the environment.

Headquarters

On June 29, 2020, WTOP-FM, a Washington, D.C. news radio station, reported that the NAACP planned to move its national headquarters from Baltimore to the Franklin D. Reeves Center of Municipal Affairs in Washington, D.C. Derrick Johnson, the NAACP's president and CEO, said this move would help the organization work more effectively in the nation’s capital.

National convention

The NAACP holds its national convention every year in different cities. Some past locations include New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Dallas. Over the years, the convention has taken place in many cities across the United States, and sometimes even online.

Awards

The NAACP gives out several special awards to celebrate achievements by African Americans. Some of these awards include the NAACP Image Awards for accomplishments in film, television, music, and literature, and the NAACP Theatre Awards for achievements in theatre. The Spingarn Medal honors general achievements, while the Thalheimer Award recognizes work done by local NAACP groups.

Other awards include the Montague Cobb Award for contributions to health, the Nathaniel Jones Award for Public Service, and several awards for lawyers and activists who have worked hard to support fairness and equality.