The NAACP Booker T Washington Pull yourself up

The NAACP

Booker T. Washington • “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. ” – In 1900, Booker T. Washington was the leading black figure in America. – He founded the Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school in Alabama. – His autobiography, Up from Slavery, was a bestseller. – He argued: Don’t demand equal rights. Start at the bottom and work your way up. We will rise by hard work.

W. E. B. Du Bois • In 1868, W. E. B. Du Bois was born in New England. • He went to college in the South - Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. • In 1895, he became the first African American to receive his Ph. D from Harvard University. • From 1897 to 1910, he was a Professor of History at Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Fight for equal rights!” • He disagreed strenuously with Booker T. Washington. • He argued: Go to college and then lead the fight against discrimination! • Du Bois believed that the talented 10% of African Americans would lead the movement against discrimination. – “The Talented Tenth”

• His most famous book – The Souls of Black Folk (1903): • “The problem of the 20 th century is the color line. ”

The Niagara Movement • In 1905, black professionals - ministers, lawyers, teachers - held a conference at Niagara Falls in New York. • They gathered to protest the condition of African-Americans in the U. S. • Led by W. E. B. Du Bois, the conference demanded economic, political, and social equality.

The NAACP • In 1909, Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. • The NAACP waged a campaign for civil rights: – Information - W. E. B. Du Bois ran the organization’s newsletter. It was aptly named The Crisis. – Lawsuits - Lawyers defended black citizens who were wrongly accused. – Investigations - Professionals investigated lynchings and race riots. – Organization - Organizers set up branches in 50 cities. • The NAACP fought a long campaign against lynching. • In 1919 it published Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States: 18891918. • The NAACP put advertisements in major newspapers presenting the facts about lynching. • It held its 1920 annual conference in Atlanta, home of the most active Ku Klux Klan in America.