In 1908, a deadly race riot rocked the city of Springfield, the capital of Illinois and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. Such eruptions of anti-Black violence – particularly lynching – were horrifically commonplace, but the Springfield riot was the final tipping point that led to the creation of the NAACP. Appalled at this rampant violence, a group of white liberals that included Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard (both the descendants of famous abolitionists), William English Walling and Dr. Henry Moscowitz issued a call for a meeting to discuss racial justice. Some 60 people, seven of whom were African-American (including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell), signed the call, which was released on the centennial of Lincoln’s birth.
Echoing the focus of Du Bois’ Niagara Movement for civil rights, which began in 1905, the NAACP aimed to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution, which promised an end to slavery, the equal protection of the law, and universal adult male suffrage, respectively. Accordingly, the NAACP’s mission was and is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States and eliminate race prejudice. The NAACP seeks to remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes.
The NAACP established its national office in New York City in 1910 and named a board of directors as well as a president, Moorfield Storey, a white constitutional lawyer and former president of the American Bar Association.
Middlesex County NAACP reps invite you to join them in celebrating Founder’s Day and Black History Month on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., via Zoom. For information, call 804-210-6051.
There will be a special presentation from Bessida Cauthorne White.
To join the meeting via Zoom, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89357260024?pwd=SHpXQXRqMml2cWRYRXV0aUE5VDU5dz09 and use meeting ID 893 5726 0024 and passcode 569253.
Find your local number at https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kchdRbumWJ.
