National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Brief     

     The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established in 1909 and is one of America's oldest civil rights organizations. While founded by a multi-ethnic group of activists, it focused on combating discrimination and violence against Black Americans.¹

     Mary White Ovington, a founding member, documented the organization's inception in her article "How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began". Published in The Crisis, her firsthand account is considered one of the most important primary sources about the NAACP's founding. In it, she describes the events that led to "The Call."^{2 3}

‍‍

The Catalyst

     The catalyst for the formation of the NAACP was the 1908 Springfield Illinois riot.  This explosion of racial violence occurred in the hometown and burial place of President Abraham Lincoln.

     The three-day riot was sparked when a mob gathered outside the local prison seeking two Black men in custody: George Richardson was accused of rape by a married woman, Mabel Hallam on August 12, 1908. Hallam later recanted when it was discovered that she had a sexually transmitted disease and Richardson did not. Joe James was held on charges stemming from the home invasion and murder of Clergy Ballard, and the attempted assault of Ballard's daughter on July 4, 1908.

     When the mob reached the prison onAugust 14, 1908, they learned that the two men had already been moved to Bloomington, Illinois for their safety by a local restaurateur, Harry T. Loper.  When Loper returned to Springfield that evening, a mob led by Kate Howard gathered outside his restaurant. Violence ensued. Over the next two days, a mob of the town's "best citizens" killed and wounded scores of Black residents and drove thousands from the city and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses. The mayhem was so extensive that both the militia and National Guard were called in to restore order.

‍The Call

     The Springfield violence sent shockwaves throughout the nation and generated nationwide media coverage. William English Walling's article on the riot "Race War in theNorth" drew Mary White Ovington's attention. In it, he called for a revival of the abolitionist spirit and equal political and social treatment ofBlack Americans. In the first week of January 1909, Ovington met Walling andDr. Henry Moskowitz in a small room of NYC apartment. During this pivotal meeting, they shared their experiences and observations. Ovington spoke ofBlack Americans' difficulties finding employment in the North and their poor treatment in hotels and restaurants. Walling, who had spent years in Russia, declared that "the Negro was treated with greater inhumanity in the UnitedStates than the Jews were treated in Russia." The NAACP was born from this meeting.

     They subsequently engaged Oswald Garrison Villard, editor of the Evening Post, to draft "The Call" - a summons, issued on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1909, for a "national conference on the Negro question". Villard called "upon all the believers in democracy to join in a national conference for the discussion of present evils, the voicing of protests, and the renewal of the struggle for civil and political liberty." The Call was signed by at least 53 people, with Ida B. Wells being the sole Black woman signatory.    

     The Call was reprinted in several publications including The Colorado Statesman, The Farmer & Mechanic, The Wichita Searchlight, The Marion Daily Mirror, and The Birmingham Age - Herald.

‍

The Merger‍

     The Niagara Movement can be considered a predecessor to the NAACP.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍