If you’ve ever seen the seal of the NAACP, you’ve probably noticed a date prominently displayed right in the middle — 1909.
What you may not know is that the NAACP was founded on this date, February 12th, in that year.
Which makes today the NAACP’s 112th birthday!
Now in its second century, the NAACP has become the nation’s largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization with more than a half-million members and supporters throughout the United States. The NAACP is the premier advocate for civil rights in the nation’s communities, leading grassroots campaigns for equal opportunity and conducting voter mobilization efforts.
The impetus for the establishment of the NAACP was a call to action following race riots in Springfield, Illinois in 1908. Some 60 people, seven of whom were African American (including W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell), answered and 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, equal protection under 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 United States and eliminate race prejudice.
The NAACP established its national office in New York City in 1910 and, under W.E.B. Du Bois founded The Crisis magazine the same year. The Crisis is one of the perks of your NAACP membership.
