NAACP - How NAACP Began

Upcoming Events=20: Dec. 7=9610: Leadership=20 500 Summit; Feb. 2007: Image Awards=20

Home=20
=BB About the NAACP=20
=BB History

How NAACP Began

3D""=20 Mary White Ovington

By Mary White Ovington
(Originally Written in 1914)

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is = five years=20 old=97old enough, it is believed, to have a history; and I, who am = perhaps, its=20 first member, have been chosen as the person to recite it. As its work = since=20 1910 has been set forth in its annual reports. I shall make it my task = to show=20 how it came into existence and to tell of its first months of work.

In the summer of 1908, the country was shocked by the account of the = race=20 riots at Springfield, Illinois. Here, in the home of Abraham Lincoln, a = mob=20 containing many of the town=92s =93best citizens,=94 raged for two days, = killed and=20 wounded scores of Negroes, and drove thousands from the city. Articles = on the=20 subject appeared in newspapers and magazines. Among them was one in the=20 Independent of September 3rd, by William English Walling, entitled = =93Race War in=20 the North.=94 After describing the atrocities committed against the = colored=20 people, Mr. Walling declared:

=93Either the spirit of the abolitionists, of Lincoln and of Love-joy = must be=20 revived and we must come to treat the Negro on a plane of absolute = political and=20 social equality, or Vardaman and Tillman will soon have transferred the = race war=20 to the North.=94 And he ended with these words, =93Yet who realizes the = seriousness=20 of the situation, and what large and powerful body of citizens is ready = to come=20 to their aid?=94

It so happened that one of Mr. Walling=92s readers accepted his = question and=20 answered it. For four years I had been studying the status of the Negro = in New=20 York. I had investigated his housing conditions, his health, his = opportunities=20 for work. I had spent many months in the South, and at the time of Mr. = Walling=92s=20 article, I was living in a New York Negro tenement on a Negro Street. = And my=20 investigations and my surroundings led me to believe with the writer of = the=20 article that =93the spirit of the abolitionists must be revived.=94

The NAACP is Born

So I wrote to Mr. Walling, and after some time, for he was in the = West, we=20 met in New York in the first week of the year of 1909. With us was Dr. = Henry=20 Moskowitz, now prominent in the administration of John Purroy Mitchell, = Mayor of=20 New York. It was then that the National Association for the Advancement = of=20 Colored People was born. It was born in a little room of a New York = apartment.=20 It is to be regretted that there are no minutes of the first meeting, = for they=20 would make interesting if unparliamentary reading.

Mr. Walling had spent some years in Russia where his wife, working in = the=20 cause of the revolutionists, had suffered imprisonment; and he expressed = his=20 belief that the Negro was treated with greater inhumanity in the United = States=20 than the Jew was treated in Russia. As Mr. Walling is a Southerner we = listened=20 with conviction. I knew something of the Negro=92s difficulty in = securing decent=20 employment in the North and of the insolent treatment awarded him at = Northern=20 hotels and restaurants, and I voiced my protest. Dr. Moskowitz, with his = broad=20 knowledge of conditions among New York=92s helpless immigrants, aided us = in=20 properly interpreting our facts. And so we talked and talked voicing our = indignation.

Lincoln=92s Birthday

Of course, we wanted to do something at once that should move the = country. It=20 was January. Why not choose Lincoln=92s birthday, February 12, to open = our=20 campaign? We decided, therefore, that a wise, immediate action would be = the=20 issuing on Lincoln=92s birthday of a call for a national conference on = the Negro=20 question. At this conference we might discover the beginnings, at least, = of that=20 =93large and powerful body of citizens=94 of which Mr. Walling had = written.

And so the meeting adjourned. Something definite was determined upon, = and our=20 next step was to call others into our councils. We at once turned to Mr. = Oswald=20 Garrison Villard, president of the N. Y. Evening Post Company. He = received our=20 suggestions with enthusiasm, and aided us in securing the co-operation = of able=20 and representative men and women. It was he who drafted the Lincoln=92s = birthday=20 call and helped to give it wide publicity. I give the Call in its = entirety with=20 the signatures since it expresses, I think, better than anything else we = have=20 published, the spirit of those who are active in the Association=92s = cause.

"The celebration of the Centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln,=20 widespread and grateful as it may be, will fail to justify itself if it = takes no=20 note of and makes no recognition of the colored men and women for whom = the great=20 Emancipator labored to assure freedom. Besides a day of rejoicing, = Lincoln=92s=20 birthday in 1909 should be one of taking stock of the nation=92s = progress since=20 1865.

"How far has it lived up to the obligations imposed upon it by the=20 Emancipation Proclamation? How far has it gone in assuring to each and = every=20 citizen, irrespective of color, the equality of opportunity and equality = before=20 the law, which underlie our American institutions and are guaranteed by = the=20 Constitution?

Disfranchisement

"If Mr. Lincoln could revisit this country in the flesh, he would be=20 disheartened and discouraged. He would learn that on January 1, 1909, = Georgia=20 had rounded out a new confederacy by disfranchising the Negro, after the = manner=20 of all the other Southern States. He would learn that the Supreme Court = of the=20 United States, supposedly a bulwark of American liberties, had refused = every=20 opportunity to pass squarely upon this disfranchisement of millions, by = laws=20 avowedly discriminatory and openly enforced in such manner that the = white men=20 may vote and that black men be without a vote in their government; he = would=20 discover, therefore, that taxation without representation is the lot of = millions=20 of wealth-producing American citizens, in whose hands rests the economic = progress and welfare of an entire section of the country.

"He would learn that the Supreme Court, according to the official = statement=20 of one of its own judges in the Berea College case, has laid down the = principle=20 that if an individual State chooses, it may =91make it a crime for white = and=20 colored persons to frequent the same market place at the same time, or = appear in=20 an assemblage of citizens convened to consider questions of a public or=20 political nature in which all citizens, without regard to race, are = equally=20 interested.

"In many states Lincoln would find justice enforced, if at all, by = judges=20 elected by one element in a community to pass upon the liberties and = lives of=20 another. He would see the black men and women, for whose freedom a = hundred=20 thousand of soldiers gave their lives, set apart in trains, in which = they pay=20 first-class fares for third-class service, and segregated in railway = stations=20 and in places of entertainment; he would observe that State after State = declines=20 to do its elementary duty in preparing the Negro through education for = the best=20 exercise of citizenship.

=93Silence=85 Means Approval=94

"Added to this, the spread of lawless attacks upon the Negro, North, = South=20 and West =97 even in the Springfield made famous by Lincoln =97 often = accompanied by=20 revolting brutalities, sparing neither sex nor age nor youth, could but = shock=20 the author of the sentiment that =91government of the people, by the = people, for=20 the people; should not perish from the earth.=92

"Silence under these conditions means tacit approval. The = indifference of the=20 North is already responsible for more than one assault upon democracy, = and every=20 such attack reacts as unfavorably upon whites as upon blacks. = Discrimination=20 once permitted cannot be bridled; recent history in the South shows that = in=20 forging chains for the Negroes the white voters are forging chains for=20 themselves. =91A house divided against itself cannot stand=92; this = government=20 cannot exist half-slave and half-free any better today than it could in = 1861.=20

"Hence we call upon all the believers in democracy to join in a = national=20 conference for the discussion of present evils, the voicing of protests, = and the=20 renewal of the struggle for civil and political liberty.=94

This call was signed by: JaneAdams, Chicago; Samuel Bowles = (Springfield=20 Republican); Prof. W.L. Bulkley, New York; Harriet Stanton Blatch, New = York; Ida=20 Wells Barnett, Chicago; E. H. Clement, Boston; Kate H. Claghorn, New = York; Prof.=20 John Dewey, New York; Dr. W. E. B.DuBois, Atlanta; Mary E. Dreier, = Brooklyn; Dr.=20 John L. Elliott, New York; Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Boston; Rev. Francis J. = Grimke,=20 Washington, D.C.; William Dean Howells, New York; Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, = Chicago;=20 Rev. John Haynes Holmes, New York; Prof. Thomas C. Hall, New York; = Hamilton=20 Holt, New York; Florence Kelley, New York; Rev. Frederick Lynch, New = York; Helen=20 Marot, New York; John E. Milholland, New York; Mary E. McDowell, = Chicago; Prof.=20 J. G. Merrill, Connecticut; Dr. Henry Moskowitz, New York; Leonora = O=92Reilly, New=20 York; Mary Ovington, New York; Rev. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, New York; = Louis F.=20 Post, Chicago; Rev. Dr. John P. Peters, New York; Dr. Jane Robbins, New = York;=20 Charles Edward Russell, New York; Joseph Smith, Boston; Anna Garlin = Spencer, New=20 York; William M. Salter, Chicago; J. C. Phelps Stokes, New York; Judge = Wendell=20 Stafford, Washington; Helen Stokes, Boston; Lincoln Steffens, Boston; = President=20 C. F. Thwing, Western Reserve University; Prof. W. I. Thomas, Chicago; = Oswald=20 Garrison Villard, New York Evening Post; Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, New = York; Bishop=20 Alexander Walters, New York; Dr. William H. Ward, New York; Horace = White, New=20 York; William English Walling, New York; Lillian D. Wald, New York; Dr. = J.=20 Milton Waldron, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Rodman Wharton, Philadelphia; = Susan P.=20 Wharton, Philadelphia; President Mary E. Wooley, Mt. Holyoke College; = Prof.=20 Charles Zueblin, Boston.

Conference

It was thus decided that we should hold a conference, and the next = two months=20 were busily spent arranging for it. Among the men and women who attended = those=20 first committee meetings were, Bishop Alexander Walters, Mr. Ray = Stannard Baker,=20 Mr. Alexander Irvine, Dr. Owen M. WaIler, Mr. Gaylord S. White, Miss = Madeline Z.=20 Doty, Miss Isabel Eaton, besides many of the New York signers of the = Call. It=20 was agreed that the conference should be by invitation only, with the = one open=20 meeting at Cooper Union. Over a thousand people were invited, the = Charity=20 Organization Hall was secured, and, on the evening of May, 30th, the = conference=20 opened with an informal reception at the Henry Street Settlement, given = by Miss=20 Lillian D. Wald, one of the Association=92s first and oldest friends. = The next=20 morning our deliberations began.

We have had five conferences since 1909, but I doubt whether any have = been so=20 full of a questioning surprise, amounting swiftly to enthusiasm, on the = part of=20 the white people in attendance. These men and women, engaged in = religious,=20 social and educational work, for the first time met the Negro who = demands, not a=20 pittance, but his full rights in the commonwealth. They received a = stimulating=20 shock and one which they enjoyed. They did not want to leave the = meeting. We=20 conferred all the time, formally and informally, and the Association = gained in=20 those days many of the earnest and uncompromising men and women who have = since=20 worked unfalteringly in its cause. Mr. William Hayes Ward, senior editor = of the=20 Independent, opened the conference, and Mr. Charles Edward Russell, = always the=20 friend of those who struggle for opportunity, presided at the stormy = session at=20 the close. The full proceedings have been published by the Association. =

Membership in the Hundreds

Out of this conference we formed a committee of forty and secured the = services of Miss Frances Blascoer, as secretary. We were greatly = hampered by=20 lack of funds. Important national work would present itself which we = were unable=20 to handle. But our secretary was an excellent organizer, and at the end = of a=20 year we had held four mass meetings, had distributed thousands of = pamphlets, and=20 numbered our membership in the hundreds. In May, 1910, we held our = second=20 conference in New York, and again our meetings were attended by earnest, = interested people. It was then that we organized a permanent body to be = known as=20 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Its = officers=20 were:

National President, Moorfield Storey, Boston=20
Chairman of the Executive Committee, William English Walling=20
Treasurer, John E. Milholland=20
Disbursing Treasurer, Oswald Garrison Villard=20
Executive Secretary, Frances Blascoer=20
Director of Publicity and Research, Dr. W. E. B. DuBois

The Role for Dr. Du Bois

The securing of a sufficient financial support to warrant our calling = Dr.=20 DuBois from Atlanta University into an executive office in the = Association was=20 the most important work of the second conference.

When Dr. DuBois came to us we were brought closely in touch with an=20 organization of colored people, formed in 1905 at Niagara and known as = the=20 Niagara Movement. This organization had held important conferences at = Niagara,=20 Harpers Ferry, and Boston, and had attempted a work of legal redress = along very=20 much the lines upon which the National Association for the Advancement = of=20 Colored People was working. Its platform, as presented in a statement in = 1905,=20 ran as follows:

Freedom of speech and criticism.
An unfettered and = unsubsidized=20 press.
Manhood suffrage.
The abolition of all caste distinctions = based=20 simply on race and color.
The recognition of the principle of human=20 brotherhood as a practical present creed.
The recognition of the = highest and=20 best training as the monopoly of no class or race.
A belief in the = dignity of=20 labor. United effort to realize these ideals under wise and courageous=20 leadership.

In 1910 it had conducted important civil rights cases and had in its=20 membership some of the ablest colored lawyers in the country, with Mr. = W. Ashbie=20 Hawkins, who has since worked with our Association, on the Baltimore = Segregation=20 acts, as its treasurer.

The Niagara Movement, hampered as it was by lack of funds, and by a=20 membership confined to one race only, continued to push slowly on, but = when the=20 larger possibilities of this new Association were clear, the members of = the=20 Niagara Movement were advised to join, as the platforms were practically = identical. Many of the most prominent members of the Niagara Movement = thus=20 brought their energy and ability into the service of the Association, = and eight=20 are now serving on its Board of Directors.

=93The Present Crisis=94

Our history, after 1910, may be read in our annual reports, and in = the=20 numbers of The Crisis. We opened two offices in the Evening Post = building. With=20 Dr. DuBois came Mr. Frank M. Turner, a Wilberforce graduate, who has = shown great=20 efficiency in handling our books. In November 1910 appeared the first = number of=20 The Crisis, with Dr. DuBois as editor, and Mary Dunlop MacLean, whose = death has=20 been the greatest loss the Association has known, as managing editor. = Our=20 propaganda work was put on a national footing, our legal work was well = under way=20 and we were in truth, a National Association, pledged to a nation-wide = work for=20 justice to the Negro race.

I remember the afternoon that The Crisis received its name. We were = sitting=20 around the conventional table that seems a necessary adjunct to every = Board, and=20 were having an informal talk regarding the new magazine. We touched the = subject=20 of poetry. "There is a poem of Lowell=92s,=94 I said, =93that means more = to me today=20 than any other poem in the world=97The Present Crisis.'"

Stay Informed