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1900 - 1918 |
1920 - 1922 |
1930 - 1939
1940 - 1948 |
1960 - 1979 |
1980 - 1989
1990 - 1999 |
2000->
1900 - 1918 Top
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.
FOUNDERS: Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White
Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling and 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.
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 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
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-> 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...
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