History

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded on February 12, 1909 by leaders such as Mary White Ovington, English Walling, Oswald Garrison, W.E.B. Dubois, and more. These leaders saw the need for change.

They then issued a written document, known as "The Call", which demanded racial equality and requested a conference on race relations. This conference was known as the National Negro Conference and occurred in New York on May 31, 1909. Issues addressed at this conference were civil, educational rights, labor, and violence problems.

By May 1910, the group of individuals who attended the conference had decided on giving the organization a name. And so, in May 1910, the organization was then known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP was incorporated in 1911.