Summary
Highlights
Founded on February 12, 1909, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) became the nation's oldest and largest grassroots civil rights organization. It was formed during a time of widespread racial injustice, segregation, employment discrimination, and denial of voting rights for people of color, built upon the ideals of the Niagara Movement, which called for equal civil rights and an end to racial discrimination.
In 1909, white liberals in New York City joined with Black intellectual leaders from the Niagara Movement, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Church Terrell, to form the NAACP. Its mission has always been to achieve a fully integrated society with equal rights for all, utilizing legal challenges, public speeches, organizing, and advocacy to combat discrimination.
The NAACP has a long history of significant legal victories. They fought Jim Crow laws, successfully challenging the grandfather clause in 1915 to protect voting rights. From 1920 to 1938, they used their New York office flag with the words 'A Man Was Lynched Yesterday' to raise awareness of rampant lynchings. In 1954, Thurgood Marshall, as chief counsel, successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education, ending school segregation. The NAACP co-organized the 1963 March on Washington and lobbied for the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Today, the NAACP remains committed to fighting discrimination. Its scope has expanded to include addressing inequality in economics, healthcare, education, voter empowerment, and the criminal justice system, continuing to serve as a crucial legal advocate for all civil rights issues.