Existing comment:
The Founding of the NAACP
William English Walling's (1877–1936) exposé about a bloody race riot in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln's hometown and burial site, resulted in the assembly of an interracial group to discuss proposals for an organization that would advocate the civil and political rights of African Americans in January 1909. The group issued a "call" resulting in the first National Negro Conference held in New York on May 31 and June 1, 1909. At the second annual meeting on May 12, 1910, the Committee adopted the formal name of the organization -- the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP's goals were the abolition of segregation, discrimination, disenfranchisement, and racial violence, particularly lynching. |