NAACP - Timeline

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Timeline

1900 - = 1918 | 1920 - = 1922 | 1930 - = 1939
1940 - = 1948 | 1960 - = 1979 | 1980 - = 1989
1990 - = 1999 | 2000 -=20 Present

1900 - 1918 Top

1909
On February 12th The National Association = for the=20 Advancement of Colored People was founded by a multiracial group of = activists,=20 who answered "The Call," in the New York City, NY. They initially called = themselves the National Negro Committee.

FOUNDERS
Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry=20 Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William = English=20 Walling led the "Call" to renew the struggle for civil and political = liberty.=20

1910
In the face of intense adversity, the NAACP = begins=20 its legacy of fighting legal battles addressing social injustice with = the Pink=20 Franklin case, which involved a Black farmhand, who unbeknowingly killed = a=20 policeman in self-defense when the officer broke into his home at 3 a.m. = to=20 arrest him on a civil charge. After losing at the Supreme Court, the = following=20 year the renowned NAACP official Joel Spingarn and his brother Arthur = start a=20 concerted effort to fight such cases.

1913
President Woodrow Wilson officially = introduces=20 segregation into the Federal Government. Horrified that President would = sanction=20 such a policy, the NAACP launched a public protest.

1915
The NAACP organizes a nationwide protest = D.W.=20 Griffiths racially-inflammatory and bigoted silent film, "Birth of a=20 Nation."

1917
In Buchanan vs. Warley, the Supreme Court = has to=20 concede that states can not restrict and officially segregate African = Americans=20 into residential districts. Also, the NAACP fights and wins the battle = to enable=20 African Americans to be commissioned as officers in World War I. Six = hundred=20 officers are commissioned, and 700,000 register for the draft..

1918
After persistent pressure by the NAACP, = President=20 Woodrow Wilson finally makes a public statement against lynching.

1920 - 1922 Top

1920
To ensure that everyone, especially the = Klan, knew=20 that the NAACP would not be intimidated, the annual conference was held = in=20 Atlanta, considered one of the most active Klan areas.

1922
In an unprecedented move, the NAACP places = large ads=20 in major newspapers to present the facts about lynching.

1930 - 1939 Top

1930
The first of successful protests by the = NAACP=20 against Supreme Court justice nominees is launched against John Parker, = who=20 officially favored laws that discriminated against African = Americans.

1935
NAACP lawyers Charles Houston and Thurgood = Marshall=20 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,=20 the NAACP moved her concert to the Lincoln Memorial, where over 75,000 = people=20 attended.

1940 - 1948 Top

1941
During World War II, the NAACP leads the = effort to=20 ensure that President Franklin Roosevelt orders a non-discrimination = policy in=20 war-related industries and federal employment.

1945
NAACP starts a national outcry when Congress = refuses=20 to fund their own Federal Fair Roosevelt Employment Practices = Commission.

1946
The NAACP wins the Morgan vs. Virginia case, = where=20 the Supreme Court bans states from having laws that sanction segregated=20 facilities in interstate travel by train and bus.

1948
The NAACP was able to pressure President = Harry=20 Truman to sign an Executive Order banning discrimination by the Federal=20 government.

1950 - 1955 Top

1954
After years of fighting segregation in = public=20 schools, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, the = NAACP=20 wins one of its greatest legal victories in Brown vs. the Board of=20 Education.

1955
NAACP member Rosa Parks is arrested and = fined for=20 refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. = Noted=20 as the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil rights movement, that = would be=20 spearheaded through the collective efforts of the NAACP, SCLC and other = Black=20 organizations.

1960 - 1979 Top

1960
In Greensboro, North Carolina, members of = the NAACP=20 Youth Council launch a series of non-violent sit-ins at segregated lunch = counters. These protests eventually lead to more than 60 stores = officially=20 desegregating their counters.

1963
After one of his many successful mass = rallies for=20 civil rights, NAACP's first Field Director, Medgar Evers is assassinated = in=20 front of his house in Jackson, Mississippi. Five months later, President = John=20 Kennedy was also assassinated.

1963
NAACP pushes for the passage of the Equal = Employment=20 Opportunity Act.

1964
U.S. Supreme Court ends the eight year = effort of=20 Alabama officials to ban NAACP activities. And 55 years after the = NAACP's=20 founding, Congress finally passes the Civil Rights Act.

1965
The Voting Rights Act is passed. Amidst = threats of=20 violence and efforts of state and local governments, the NAACP still = manages to=20 register more than 80,000 voters in the Old South.

1979
The NAACP initiates the first bill ever = signed by a=20 governor that allows voter registration in high schools. Soon after, 24 = states=20 follow suit.

1980 - 1989 Top

1981
The NAACP leads the effort to extend The = Voting=20 Rights Act for another 25 years. To cultivate economic empowerment, the = NAACP=20 establishes the Fair Share Program with major corporations across the=20 country.

1982
NAACP registers more than 850,000 voters, = and=20 through its protests and the support of the Supreme Court, prevents = President=20 Reagan from giving a tax-break to the racially segregated Bob Jones=20 University.

1985
The NAACP leads a massive anti-apartheid = rally in=20 New York.

1987
NAACP launches campaign to defeat the = nomination of=20 Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. As a result, he garners the = highest=20 negative vote ever recorded for a 1989 Silent March of over 100,000 to = protest=20 U.S. Supreme Court nominee.

1989
Silent March of over 100,000 to protest U.S. = Supreme=20 Court decisions that have reversed many of the gains made against=20 discrimination.

1990 - 1999 Top

1991
When avowed racist and former Klan leader = David Duke=20 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=20 has risen to 70 and now represents billions of dollars in business.

1995
Over thirty years after the assassination of = NAACP=20 civil rights activist, Medgar Evers - his widow Myrlie, is elected = Chairman of=20 the NAACP's Board of Directors. The following year, the Kweisi Mfume = leaves=20 Congress to become the NAACPs President and CEO.

1997
In response to the pervasive = anti-affirmative action=20 legislation occurring around the country, the NAACP launches the = Economic=20 Reciprocity Program... And in response to increased violence among our = youth,=20 the NAACP starts the "Stop The Violence, Start the Love' campaign.

1998
Supreme Court Demonstration and arrests

2000 - Present Top

2000
TV Diversity Agreements. Retirement of the = Debt and=20 first six years of a budget surplus. Largest Black Voter Turnout in 20 = years

2000
Great March. January 17, in Columbia, South = Carolina=20 attended by over 50,000 to protest the flying of the Confederate Battle = Flag.=20 This is the largest civil rights demonstration ever held in the South to = date.

2001
Cincinnati Riots. Development of 5 year = Strategic=20 Plan.
Under the leadership of Chairman Bond and President Mfume, the = NAACP=20 continues to thrive, and with the help of everyone - regardless of race = - will=20 continue to do so into the next millennium...

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