One of the nation’s major civil rights organizations is 108 years old as of Sunday — the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Founded Feb. 12. 1909, to combat lynching and segregation, the NAACP continues to work toward
greater opportunities for minorities.
The NAACP is the nation’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights
organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and
the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, campaigning for equal
opportunity and conducting voter mobilization.
One of its most telling moments came with the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of
Education, which desegregated the nation’s schools. The lawyer who argued that case, Thurgood
Marshall, became the first African-American Supreme Court justice.
When the NAACP was founded, there were 9.8 million African-Americans in the U.S. Today,
including multi-racial people, that number is nearly 45 million according to the U.S. census.
Brush up on our knowledge of this important organization’s history, by clicking here.
source: Empowering Everyday Women Ministries // Black History Features