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W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter founded the Niagara Movement to work on the legal redress of negro people. Most movement’s members were African-American lawyers who advocated for equal rights, voting rights, educational opportunity, and an end to racial discrimination. The movement laid the groundwork for later establishing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which adopted many of the Niagara Movement’s goals and legal strategies.
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Interpersonal disagreements among leaders William Monroe Trotter, William B. Dubois, and Clemont Morgan, state secretary of the Niagara Movement’s Massachusetts branch, and financial challenges led to the resignation of Trotter. Trotter’s resignation marked a turning point for the movement, as the movement steadily lost members and momentum after his exit, creating a void. -
Two African American individuals were apprehended on suspicion of committing rape, attempted rape, and murder in Springfield, Illinois, with the purported victims being two young Caucasian women and the father of one of them. A mob of white individuals wanted to lynch them. The enraged mob attacked the black community, killing nine black residents and seven whites. The violence galvanized anti-lynching activism by civil rights groups to push for federal anti-lynching laws. -
William English Walling published “Race War in the North” in the Independent magazine. The piece condemned the racist violence against African Americans during the Springfield race riots earlier that year. Walling issued a powerful call to action to revive the abolitionist spirit and launch a new biracial movement to achieve full equality and justice. His article prompted social worker Mary White Ovington to respond, and she joined Walling and social worker Henry Moskowitz in planning a meeting. -
Mary White Ovington, William Walling, and Henry Moskowitz met in New York City to discuss forming an organization dedicated to advancing civil rights for African Americans. The meeting laid the groundwork for what would become the NAACP. They agreed this new institution would carry on the abolitionist tradition of interracial activism for equality and justice. To get started, they called on other prominent activists, intellectuals, and sympathetic whites to join their small gatherings. -
The president of the New York Evening Post Company, Oswald Villard, drafted and publicized a call for a national conference to address racial inequality. The call was scheduled for February 12th and invited prominent activists, intellectuals, and professionals including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, and Mary Church Terrell. The influence of the civil rights proponents boosted participation in the upcoming conference, leading to the official formation of the NAACP.
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Though the organization’s inaugural conference did not occur until May, this date marked the official founding of what would become the leading civil rights organization in America. The organization was founded on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday with the support of over 70 civil rights activists who signed the call for a conference. The founding of the NAACP marked a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights activism in America.
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over 300 people gathered at Charity Organization Hall in New York City for the conference. Prominent speakers included W.E.B. Du Bois, Livingston Farrand, Edwin Seligman, and Burt G. Wilder. The multiracial conference marked the first significant gathering of the newly founded organization. Out of the conference, the National Negro Committee or “Committee of Forty” was formed to establish a permanent organization and mobilize resources for the work ahead.
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The organization formally adopted its present name and established its leadership structure. Moorfield Storey, a white lawyer, was elected National President. Other key positions included William English Walling as Executive Committee's Chairman, John Milholland (Treasurer), Oswald Garrison Villard as Disbursing Treasurer, Frances Blascoer as Executive Secretary, and W.E.B. DuBois as Director of Publicity and Research. The committee represented the diversity of the NAACP.
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W.E.B. Du Bois led the last official meeting of the Niagara Movement in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. With the rise of the broader-based NAACP, Du Bois advised the Movement’s remaining members to merge into the newly formed NAACP. After five years of anti-segregation activism and protest, the Niagara Movement officially disbanded at this final convention. Its legacy lived on through the NAACP, which adopted much of its platform and strategy.
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The NAACP began publishing The Crisis Monthly magazine, edited by W.E.B. Du Bois. The magazine provided a platform to publicize civil rights issues and cases. It also gave a voice to the cultural contributions of the Black community through literature, poetry, and scholarly articles. Its first issue marked a significant milestone in the organization’s outreach and activism for racial justice. -
The NAACP took on its first major legal case, defending Pink Franklin, a Black farm laborer accused of murder in South Carolina. NAACP lawyers argued Franklin should get a trial transfer outside the hostile local environment. Though their request was rejected, the NAACP hired detectives who found evidence exonerating Franklin, and the charges were soon dropped. It began the NAACP’s nationwide legal battles against racism.
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The first constitution and by-laws of the organization drafted by Parker Pillsbury formalize the organization’s structure and purpose. The constitution established the NAACP as a membership organization with an annual fee governed by a national board of directors. It outlined the aims of advancing justice, eliminating racial prejudice, and securing civil and political rights for African Americans.
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The organization challenged the “grandfather clause” enacted in Oklahoma to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment. 1913 Maryland circuit court decision used to convince the attorney general to challenge the constitutionality of the clause. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NAACP. The decision compelled multiple states in the South, such as Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, and Louisiana, to abolish the clause in their constitutions, allowing more black people to vote.