In 1908, a race riot occurred in Springfield, IL where two black men were accused of crimes, such as home invasion and rape. A crowd of mostly white men were enraged that the men weren’t lynched and destroyed black-owned businesses and homes. In response, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded on February 12, 1909 in New York City. About 60 people signed the call to establish the organization. Some of the well-known founders are W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Others that you may not have heard of until today when we did our activity are Mary White Ovington, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moskowitz, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling, and Lillian Wald. The mission that these leaders set forth is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.”

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