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Niagara Movement 1905
Served as the initial movement for the NAACP. It was formed by African American intellectuals, such as W.E.B Du Bois, who protested the spread of racial discrimination and division in the U.S. after the passing of Jim Crow Laws. These laws allowed the use of Black Codes in the South, which harshly restricted black citizens. Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp -
NAACP Establishment 1909
The NAACP was first created in New York City in 1909. The founding members were both white and black activists who strongly opposed the lynchings of black citizens that were regularly occurring in the early 1900s. Original members included W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells (Onion et al., 2022). Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp -
Guinn v. United States 1915
The NAACP opposed the passing of the grandfather clause amendment, which allowed U.S. citizens to register to vote without passing a literacy test as long as their grandfathers were eligible to vote in 1866 (Onion et al., 2022), on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and won. Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp -
New York City Silent March 1917
The NAACP orchestrated a peaceful protest in New York City that had 10,000 participants who silently marched in protest against the lynchings of African American citizens. Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp -
Brown v. Board of Education 1954
The NAACP challenged the case in court that would decide if segregating public schools based on the race of their students was constitutional. Thurgood Marshall, who was a civil rights attorney and part of the NAACP, argued the case and won. He also become the first black Supreme Court Justice (Onion et al., 2022). Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp -
March on Washington 1963
The NAACP organized one of the largest protests in American history in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial. The turnout of participants was estimated to about 250,000 people who marched to bring awareness to the struggles that black citizens were continuing to experience. Martin Luther King Jr. also delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at this rally (Onion et al., 2022). -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The NAACP had an integral role in rallying for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which "...prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (Onion et al., 2022). Onion, A., Sullivan, M., & Mullen, M. (2022, November). NAACP. History.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp