1909Issued the “Call,” a statement calling for a
conference to protest discrimination and violence against African
AmericansConvened the National Negro Conference on May 31 and June
1, New York, N.Y.Established the Committee on the Negro, also known as the
Committee of Forty on Permanent Organization and as the National Negro
Committee1910Adopted the name National Association for the Advancement
of Colored PeopleUndertook first major legal case in defending Pink
Franklin against a murder charge in South CarolinaPublished first issue of the magazine
Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races19101934 Crisis edited by W. E. B. Du Bois1911Incorporated the NAACP19111914Organized fifty branches throughout the United
States1914Published an open letter to Woodrow Wilson protesting
segregation in federal agencies1915Awarded the first Spingarn Medal to Ernest E. Just for
research in biology and physiologyProtested the film
Birth of a Nation1916Established an antilynching committee19161923Published the
Branch Bulletin1917Organized the Silent Protest Parade, New York, N.Y.1919Published
Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States,
1889-1918. New York: National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People1930Opposed the nomination of John J. Parker to the Supreme
Court Retained full-time legal services of Charles Hamilton
Houston1934Resignation of W. E. B. Du Bois19351948Crisis edited by Roy Wilkins1939Awarded the Spingarn Medal to Marian Anderson 1941Supported proposed March on Washington1942Opened the Washington Bureau, Washington, D.C.1943Walter Francis White and Thurgood Marshall submitted reports
on riots in Detroit, Mich. 1944Recorded 430,000 memberships, largest in the association's
historyW. E. B. Du Bois returned to the NAACP Smith v. Allwright voting
rights decision19441945Walter Francis White toured European and Pacific theaters of
operation during World War II1945Established position of public relations directorWalter Francis White published
A Rising Wind. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
Doran and Co.Moved national office from Fifth Avenue to West Fortieth
Street, New York, N.Y.1946Established Labor Department1947Established Church DepartmentElmore v. Ricedecision
relating to the Democratic Party primary in South CarolinaHarry S. Truman addressed the NAACP's thirty-eighth annual
conference, Washington, D.C.1948W. E. B. Du Bois resigned from the association Closed Veterans Affairs office, Washington, D.C.Sipuel v. Board of Regents
decision19491966Crisis edited by James W. Ivy1950Organized the National Emergency Civil Rights
Mobilization, Washington, D.C.Sweatt v. Painter
decision19501977Appointed Clarence Mitchell (1911-1984) head of the
Washington Bureau, Washington, D.C.1953Established Fighting Fund for Freedom1954Brown v. Board of Education
decision 1956Legal Defense Fund reorganized as the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, Inc., an independent entityHeld meeting in Atlanta, Ga., to plan strategy for future
desegregation campaigns1957Central High School, Little Rock, Ark., integratedNAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund allowed to retain
NAACP as part of its nameAwarded the Spingarn Medal to Martin Luther King,
Jr.1960Youth members participated in sit-in demonstrations and
defended participants from other organizations1963Joined other organizations in the March on Washington for
Jobs and FreedomMedgar Wiley Evers, NAACP field secretary, murdered in
Jackson, Miss.Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) created as a
united front by civil rights organizations to register voters in
Mississippi19631964Association lawyers participated in the defense of Freedom
Riders1964Established NAACP Special Contribution Fund as a
tax-exempt fund Broadcast “Freedom Television Spectacular,” a
fund-raising telethon19661974Crisis edited by Henry Lee Moon 1967Roy Wilkins appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson to the National
Advisory Commission on Civil DisordersEstablished the Mississippi Emergency Relief program to
alleviate hunger in the state1968Resignation of the legal staff after the dismissal of
Lewis M. Steel by the Board of Directors for publication of his article “Nine
Men in Black Who Think White” in the
New York Times MagazineReactivated the Housing Department1969Established the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs
DepartmentCreated the National Afro-American Builders Corp. Reorganized branches in various large cities into multiple
branches as an experiment1971Established the NAACP National Housing Corp. through which
local branches sponsored nonprofit housing programs1975 Crisis edited by Warren Marr1976Claiborne Hardware Co v. NAACP
decision, the Port Gibson, Miss., case that threatened to bankrupt the
association 1977Organized NAACP National Energy Conference, Washington,
D.C.1978Awarded the first Walter Francis White Award to Hubert H.
Humphrey Received a five-year, $500,000 educational grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation Regents of the University of
California v. Bakke decision Organized NAACP Leadership Summit Conference, Chicago,
Ill.Created Afro-Academic Cultural Technical Scientific
Olympics (ACT-SO)Established Economic Policy Advisory Council1979Appointed Leroy Mobley director of prison programsOrganized Black Leadership Meeting, New York, N.Y.1981Eight persons arrested in alleged conspiracy to bomb the
Baltimore, Md., NAACP branch headquarters1982Moved national headquarters to 186 Remsen Street,
Brooklyn, from 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y.Established Operation Fair Share program1983Executive director Benjamin L. Hooks suspended by the
chairman of the board, Margaret Bush Wilson, and later reinstated Board of Directors transferred chairman powers to Kelly M.
Alexander, Sr.1985Board of Directors authorized move of national
headquarters to Baltimore, Md.Suspicious fire destroyed NAACP branch headquarters in
Dover, Del.Created Back-to-School/Stay-in-School program1986Moved national headquarters to Baltimore, Md., and
retained a small office in New York, N.Y.Association sued some of its former salaried lawyers over
legal fees1987Completed “Long-Range Plan: The Year 2000 and Beyond”
report1989Awarded Spingarn Medal to Jesse Jackson1990Organized the NAACP Conference on the Present Crisis,
Washington, D.C.1993Benjamin L. Hooks resigned as executive director
List of Officers
19101911Frances Blascoer, secretary19101929Moorfield Storey, president19111912Mary White Ovington, secretary19121916May Childs Nerney, secretary1916Mary White Ovington, acting secretary19161917Royal Freeman Nash, secretary19171918James Weldon Johnson, acting secretary19181920James R. Shillady, secretary19201931James Weldon Johnson, secretary19301939Joel Elias Spingarn, president19311955Walter Francis White, secretary and executive
secretary19401965Arthur B. Spingarn, president19491950Roy Wilkins, acting secretary19551964Roy Wilkins, executive secretary19651977Roy Wilkins, executive director19661974Kivie Kaplan, president19751983Margaret Bush Wilson, chair, Board of Directors19761982W. Montague Cobb, president19771993Benjamin L. Hooks, executive director1983James Kemp, president19831984Kelly Alexander, Sr., chair, Board of Directors19841989Enolia P. McMillan, president19851995William F. Gibson, chair, Board of Directors19901992Hazel N. Dukes, presidentFrom the guide to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records, 1842-1999, (bulk 1919-1991), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)
Agency History (1909-1967)
This chronology covers key events in the NAACP's history, providing a general framework and points of reference for understanding the visual materials in this collection. Listed events do not necessarily correspond to particular visual materials in the collection; some listed events are well covered in the collection, while others are not.
1909Oswald Garrison Villard issues the “Call,” a petition calling for a national conference to discuss means for ending social and civil injustices against African Americans. Out of this effort the National Negro Committee, sometimes referred to as the Committee of Forty, is formed.1910The National Negro Committee holds its second meeting and changes its name to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.First legal case:
Pink Franklin v. State of South Carolina.First issue of the
Crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP, is published with W.E.B. Du Bois serving as editor.First NAACP office opens at 20 Vesey Street, New York, N.Y.1911NAACP is incorporated in New York, N.Y.1912First board of directors is selected.Oswald Garrison Villard is appointed chairman of the board of directors.191350 branches in existence.1914Joel Spingarn is elected chairman of the board of directors, replacing Oswald Garrison Villard. Offices move to 70 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.1915First Spingarn Medal is awarded to biologist Ernest Just, Howard University Medical School, Washington, D.C.1916The first Amenia Conference is held at Troutbeck, Joel Spingarn's estate at Amenia, N.Y.James Weldon Johnson is hired as field secretary.Anti-lynching campaign starts with the formation of a committee to raise funds and public awareness about lynching.1917Silent Protest parade is organized to protest the injustices of discrimination and segregation.1918John Shillady is appointed executive secretary.Walter White is appointed assistant secretary.1919NAACP publishes a major study of lynching entitled
Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1918.Anti-lynching Conference is held at Carnegie Hall, New York, N.Y.Memberships total 56,000.Mary White Ovington becomes chairman of the board of directors.1920James Weldon Johnson is appointed executive secretary. He becomes the first African American to be appointed to this level within the Association. He replaces John Shillady, who resigned after being beaten by a mob in Austin, Texas, while on official business for the Association.William Pickens is appointed field secretary.Offices move to 69 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.192225Involvement in various legal cases concerning restrictive convenants, peonage, and voting rights.1927The Life Membership program is initiated.1929Moorfield Storey, first president, dies.325 branches in 44 states.Voting rights, housing, and employment discrimination campaigns accelerate.1930Joel Spingarn succeeds Moorfield Storey as president.Daisy Lampkin becomes regional field secretary.James Weldon Johnson resigns.NAACP leads a successful campaign against the nomination of Judge John Parker to the United States Supreme Court.1931Walter White is appointed executive secretary.Roy Wilkins is hired as assistant secretary.1933Roy Wilkins and George Schuyler investigate working conditions of African Americans employed by the Mississippi Flood Control Project.The second Amenia Conference is held to discuss the social and political progress of African Americans.1934Campaigns against employment discrimination get underway.Dr. Louis Wright becomes chairman of the board of directors.W.E.B. Du Bois resigns.1935Roy Wilkins becomes acting editor of the
Crisis.Charles Houston is appointed special counsel.Youth councils begin to spring up across the nation.1936William Pickens becomes director of branches.William English Walling, founding member, dies.NAACP initiates campaigns against unequal salaries for African American teachers--first cases filed in Maryland.Campaigns and legal action to eliminate segregation in education at the college level.1937Roy Wilkins becomes editor of the
Crisis.1938Thurgood Marshall is appointed special counsel, replacing Charles Houston.E. Frederic Morrow becomes coordinator of branches.1939Joel Spingarn, president, dies.Legal Defense Fund formed.1940Campaigns for elimination of discrimination in the armed services.Arthur Spingarn becomes president.1941Ella Baker joins staff as assistant field secretary.Campaigns against discrimination in defense industries hiring practices.55 youth councils and 14 college chapters exist.1942Washington, D.C., bureau is established.1943Ruby Hurley is appointed youth director.Ella Baker becomes director of branches.1944W.E.B. Du Bois returns to the Association as director of special research.1945Offices move to 20 West 40th Street, New York, N.Y.1946Campaigns against segregation in education continue--a number of new cases filed.Clarence Mitchell is appointed national labor secretary, Washington, D.C., bureau.Ella Baker, director of branches, resigns.Gloster Current succeeds Ella Baker as director of branches.1948Henry Lee Moon is appointed director of public relations.W.E.B. Du Bois, director of special research, resigns.1949Walter White, executive secretary, resigns due to poor health.Oswald Garrison Villard, founding member, dies.1950Clarence Mitchell is appointed director, Washington, D.C., bureau.The National Emergency Civil Rights Mobilization meets in Washington, D.C., to support enactment of civil rights laws.1951“Equality under Law” campaign is initiated to eliminate segregation in elementary and secondary schools.1952School desegregation cases reach the United States Supreme Court.Dr. Louis Wright, chairman of the board of directors, dies.1953“Fight for Freedom” campaign is initiated, with the goal to eliminate segregation and discrimination by 1963, the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Organizers vowed to raise $1,000,000 annually through 1963 to help fund the campaign.Channing Tobias is appointed chairman of the board of directors.1954 Brown v. Board of Education decided; the United States Supreme Court decision overturns the “separate but equal” doctrine.1955Walter White, former executive secretary, dies.Roy Wilkins succeeds Walter White as executive secretary.Memberships surpass 300,000.1956Legal action is initiated against the NAACP by the states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, challenging the right of the NAACP to operate in those states.1957Federal court orders Little Rock, Arkansas, to desegregate its schools. Widespread violence breaks out as the first nine African American students try to attend Central High School. Local NAACP leaders Daisy and L.C. Bates direct the strategy for implementing the United States Supreme Court's desegregation orders in Little Rock.Civil Rights Act of 1957 is enacted through coordinated efforts of the NAACP and other civil rights and labor groups.Prayer Pilgrimage in Washington, D.C., to show support for civil rights.1959Branches are involved in voter registration campaigns in the South.The Association celebrates its 50th anniversary.1960Dr. Robert Weaver becomes chairman of the board of directors; he resigns one year later to head the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency.1961Bishop Stephen Gill Spottswood is appointed chairman of the board of directors.1963Memberships surpass 500,000.Medgar Evers, Mississippi field director, is assassinated.W.E.B. Du Bois dies in Accra, Ghana.1966Arthur Spingarn, president, retires.Kivie Kaplan is elected president.1967Offices move to 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y.From the guide to the Visual Materials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records (Library of Congress), ca. 1838-1969, bulk 1944-1955, (Prints and Photographs Division Library of Congress)