National Negro Committee
Encyclopedia
The National Negro Committee (formed: New York City, May 31 and June 1, 1909 - ceased: New York City, May 12, 1910) was composed of a group of activists, in order to address the social, economic, and political rights of African-Americans. The Committee was the precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
.
read an article written by socialist
William English Walling
entitled "Race War in the North" in The Independent
. Walling described a massive race riot
directed at black residents in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln
, Springfield, Illinois
that led to seven deaths, 40 homes and 24 businesses destroyed, and 107 indictments against rioters. Walling ended the article by calling for a powerful body of citizens to come to aid blacks. Ovington responded to the article by writing Walling and meeting at his apartment in New York City
along with social worker Dr. Henry Moskowitz
.
The group decided to launch a campaign by issuing a "call" for a national conference on the civil and political rights
of African-Americans on the centennial of Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1909. Many responded to the “call” that eventually led to the formation of the National Negro Committee that held its first meeting in New York on May 31 and June 1, 1909.
By May, 1910 the National Negro Committee and attendants, at its second conference, organized a permanent body known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP).
, Paul Kennaday, Jacob W. Mack, M. D. Maclean, Dr. Henry Moskowitz
, John Elmer Milholland, Leonora O'Reilly
, Charles Edward Russell
, Edwin R. A. Seligman
, Rev. Joseph Silverman, Oswald G. Villard, Lillian D. Wald, William English Walling
, Bishop Alexander Walters
, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Mary W. Ovington, Dr. Owen Meredith Waller, Rev. John Haynes Holmes
, William Lewis Bulkley, Maria Baldwin, Archibald H. Grimke
, Albert E. Pillsbury
, Moorfield Storey
, Charles Franklin Thwing
, William S. Scarborough, Jane Addams
, Ida Wells-Barnett, Dr. Charles Edward Bentley, Celia Parker Woolley, Dr. William Albert Sinclair, Susan Wharton, Richard Robert Wright, Lafayette Mckeen Hershaw, Judge Wendell Philips Stafford, Mary Church Terrell
, Rev. John Milton Waldron, W. E. B. Du Bois, Leslie Pinckney Hill
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
.
Origins
On September 3, 1908 Mary White OvingtonMary White Ovington
Mary White Ovington was a suffragette, socialist, Unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP.-Biography:...
read an article written by socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
William English Walling
William English Walling
William English Walling was an American labor reformer and socialist born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the grandson of William Hayden English, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1880, and was born into wealth. He was educated at the University of Chicago and at Harvard Law School...
entitled "Race War in the North" in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. Walling described a massive race riot
Mass racial violence in the United States
Mass racial violence, also called race riots can include such disparate events as:* attacks on Irish Catholics, the Chinese and other immigrants in the 19th century....
directed at black residents in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, Springfield, Illinois
Springfield Race Riot of 1908
The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 was a mass civil disturbance in Springfield, Illinois, USA sparked by the transfer of two African American prisoners out of the city jail by the county sheriff. This act enraged many white citizens, who responded by burning black-owned homes and businesses and...
that led to seven deaths, 40 homes and 24 businesses destroyed, and 107 indictments against rioters. Walling ended the article by calling for a powerful body of citizens to come to aid blacks. Ovington responded to the article by writing Walling and meeting at his apartment in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
along with social worker Dr. Henry Moskowitz
Henry Moskowitz
Henry Moskowitz was a civil rights activist, and one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.-Biography:He was born in 1879 in Romania....
.
The group decided to launch a campaign by issuing a "call" for a national conference on the civil and political rights
Rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
of African-Americans on the centennial of Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1909. Many responded to the “call” that eventually led to the formation of the National Negro Committee that held its first meeting in New York on May 31 and June 1, 1909.
By May, 1910 the National Negro Committee and attendants, at its second conference, organized a permanent body known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP).
National Negro Committee Membership on June 1, 1909
Rev. Walter Henderson Brooks, John DeweyJohn Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
, Paul Kennaday, Jacob W. Mack, M. D. Maclean, Dr. Henry Moskowitz
Henry Moskowitz
Henry Moskowitz was a civil rights activist, and one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.-Biography:He was born in 1879 in Romania....
, John Elmer Milholland, Leonora O'Reilly
Leonora O'Reilly
Leonora O’Reilly was an American feminist, suffragist, and trade union organizer. She was a founding member of the Women's Trade Union League.-Biography:...
, Charles Edward Russell
Charles Edward Russell
Charles Edward Russell was an American journalist, politician, and a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People...
, Edwin R. A. Seligman
Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman
Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman , was an American economist.-Biography:He was born in New York City, a son of Joseph Seligman, a banker. He was educated at Columbia University, where he graduated in 1879...
, Rev. Joseph Silverman, Oswald G. Villard, Lillian D. Wald, William English Walling
William English Walling
William English Walling was an American labor reformer and socialist born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the grandson of William Hayden English, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1880, and was born into wealth. He was educated at the University of Chicago and at Harvard Law School...
, Bishop Alexander Walters
Alexander Walters
Bishop Alexander Walters was an American clergyman and noted civil rights leader. Born a slave in Bardstown, Kentucky, just before the Civil War, he rose to become a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at age 33, then president of the National Afro-American Council, the nation’s...
, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Mary W. Ovington, Dr. Owen Meredith Waller, Rev. John Haynes Holmes
John Haynes Holmes
John Haynes Holmes was a prominent Unitarian minister and pacifist, noted for his anti-war activism.-Early years:John Haynes Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 29, 1879. He studied at Harvard, graduating in 1902, and Harvard Divinity School, which he graduated in 1904. He was then called...
, William Lewis Bulkley, Maria Baldwin, Archibald H. Grimke
Archibald Grimke
Archibald Henry Grimké was an American lawyer, intellectual, journalist, diplomat and community leader in the 19th and early 20th century...
, Albert E. Pillsbury
Albert E. Pillsbury
Albert Enoch Pillsbury was a Boston lawyer who served in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, President of the Massachusetts State Senate, and as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1891 to 1894...
, Moorfield Storey
Moorfield Storey
Moorfield Storey was an American lawyer, publicist, and civil rights leader. According to Storey's biographer, William B...
, Charles Franklin Thwing
Charles Franklin Thwing
Charles Franklin Thwing was an American clergyman and educator.-Birth:He was born in New Sharon, Maine on November 9, 1853. He graduated from Harvard University in 1876, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1879. He then served as a pastor in churches in Cambridge, Massachusetts and...
, William S. Scarborough, Jane Addams
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
, Ida Wells-Barnett, Dr. Charles Edward Bentley, Celia Parker Woolley, Dr. William Albert Sinclair, Susan Wharton, Richard Robert Wright, Lafayette Mckeen Hershaw, Judge Wendell Philips Stafford, Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell , daughter of former slaves, was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She became an activist who led several important associations and worked for civil rights and suffrage....
, Rev. John Milton Waldron, W. E. B. Du Bois, Leslie Pinckney Hill