The NAACP is an American organization founded in 1909 to promote minority rights. It was inspired by WEB De Bois and the Niagara Movement. The group has different departments dealing with various aspects of minority rights and promotes the rights of other minorities such as Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Jewish Americans. The NAACP was heavily involved in the Harlem Renaissance and worked to end segregation and uphold the legal rights of minorities. The group still promotes voting rights and acts as a civil rights advocate. Membership reached its peak in 1964, with approximately 600,000 members.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American organization founded on February 12, 1909 to promote the rights of minorities. The group is made up of different departments dealing with various aspects of minority rights, such as legal, education and employment.
The NAACP was created by a group of people, both black and white, inspired by WEB De Bois and the Niagara Movement. WEB De Bois was the first black in the United States to earn a doctorate from Harvard; his book, The Souls of Black Folk, was published in 1903 and he led an anti-segregation movement called the Niagara Movement. The move started because no American hotel would allow the group of black men to check in, so they stayed on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
De Bois became the director of the organization and edited a publication called Crisis. Whites involved in creating the NAACP included philosopher John Dewey, social worker Jane Adams, publisher Oswald Garrison Villard, and novelist William Dean Howells. While best known for its work advancing African American rights, the Maryland-based organization also promotes the rights of other minorities such as Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Jewish Americans.
In 1919, the NAACP held a symposium on lynching and issued a report titled “Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States: 1889-1918.” The group supported the federal anti-lynching bill proposed by Missouri Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer, and although the bill passed the House on January 26, 1922, it failed to pass in the Senate. It wasn’t until 2005 that the US Senate issued a formal apology for failing to pass Dyer’s bill or similar anti-lynching laws.
The organization was heavily involved in the Harlem Renaissance which encouraged black Americans to make artistic and intellectual contributions to society. The Harlem Renaissance saw many black Americans become published authors and celebrated artists, singers and dancers in the 1920s and early 1930s. During the Great Depression, the group began to focus on minorities struggling in situations of poverty.
Membership of the organization grew during the 1940s as the NAACP worked to try to end segregation and uphold the legal rights of minorities. Thurgood Marshall, who would later be the first African American appointed to the United States Supreme Court, became head of the organization’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund in 1940. He argued a number of cases before the court, including Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which ended segregation in public schools. The group continued to work to advance minority rights throughout the civil rights movement, focusing on legal and judicial action. This culminated in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the mid-1960s.
While it has suffered some financial and political setbacks in more recent years, the NAACP has focused on equality in education, health care, the economy, and the justice system. The organization still promotes voting rights and acts as a civil rights advocate. Membership reached its peak in 1964, with approximately 600,000 members; although there were fewer than half as of 2009, it is still one of the largest and most recognized organizations of its kind.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
