History of the NAACP Youth & College Division I NAACP
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HISTORY OF THE NAACP YOUTH & COLLEGE DIVISION
1934-1937: Building the Foundation
The NAACP's official organ, The Crisis
Magazine, carried infonnation on young
people and encouraged fonnation of youth
units for a number of years before any action
was taken to fonn a division in the
Association devoted to youth activities. In
1935, during the St. Louis Convention, a
fiery address was made by one of the youth
delegates, Miss Juanita Jackson, to create a
department for youth.
Subsequently, on September 15, 1935, Miss
Jackson joined the Association's staff and
became the first Youth Secretary. The
NAACP National Board of Directors passed
a resolution formally creating the Youth and
College Division in March of 1936. Under the
guidance of Ms. Jackson, a National Youth
Program was created for youth members of
the NAACP. This program provided national
activities for youth that were supported by
monthly meetings discussing local needs of
ilie community. The major national youth
activities were demonstrations against
lynching and seminars and group
discussions on the inequalities in public
education.
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At the historical first youth meeting in
Baltimore, Maryland, June 29 - July 4,
1936, 217 youili delegates held a national
conference simultaneously with adult
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members. Delegates outlined a national program that addressed four major areas: equal educational
opportunities, equal economic opportunities, civil liberties, and physical security against lynching. The
new plan called for the scrapping of what was then known as the junior branch with the old age limits
of 14 - 21 years old for youth members. This was replaced by junior youili councils, ages 12 -15, youth
councils, ages 16 - 25, including college youth and college units, and the creation of a youth program
dmn~r to th~t
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History of the NAACP Youth & College Division I NAACP
This spirit of solidarity among black youths was sparked by years of racial discrimination, segregation,
and mob violence. "Flesh and blood and the breath of life must be added to the skeleton we have
constructed," declared youth member, Edward A. Lawrence in an article in the September, 1936 edition
of The Crisis. The year was marked by an increasingly aggressive and efficient level of activity within
youth units, indicating not only intelligent leadership and loyalty on the part of the members; but a
laudable spirit of cooperation among the young people.
Under the guidance of Miss Jackson, a national youth program evolved. This program, built around the
major objectives of the Association, provided for national periodic youth activities that were supported
through monthly youth programs addressing local needs. The major national youth activities were mass
meetings against inequalities in public education and demonstrations against lynching was evidenced in
December, 1934 when Howard University Students organized and picketed a national Conference in
Washington, DC when leaders refused to discuss lynching as a national crime. This demonstration led
to congress enacting the Federal Anti-lynching Bill.
1950-1970: The Fight for Equality and Justice
In the 1950'S, the Virginia State NAACP College Chapter was recognized for its leadership in the sit-ins
in the city of St. Petersburg. The College Chapters of Indiana and Wilberforce succeeded in getting
several local restaurants to serve Negro patrons while the NAACP College Chapter at Florida A&M was
financially contributing to the Tallahassee bus protest.
In 1955, the Division sponsored the second annual National Youth Legislative Conference, which met
for three days in February in Washington, DC to discuss the role that young people could play in
helping to break down racial discrimination and segregation.
In 1956, the Division took an active role in encouraging letters of protest in the treatment of black
student, Autherine Lucy, at Alabama University. As a result of this pressure, student officers in the
university passed a resolution calling upon the administration to admit Miss Lucy and urging students
not to participate in further demonstrations against her.
In 1958, division units in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, set the tone for the civil rights
movement of the sixties by launching the first of many sit-in demonstrations at lunch counters and
other public places to protest their second class citizenship. That same year the NAACP awarded its
coveted Spingarn Medal to nine black teenagers who dared to break the color line at their local high
school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
During the 1960'S, heightened activity by division units challenged all facets of discrimination. Division
units conducted sit-ins, stand-ins, drive-ins, wade-ins, read-ins, mass demonstrations, protest marches,
picket lines and selective buying campaigns in the South, Midwest and in virtually every other section of
the country. They attended conferences, workshop sessions and rallies; they helped line up students to
apply for transfers to integrated schools; and they assisted in voter registration drives.
The year 1961 saw Division units reach an all-time high in civil rights action. During the year, units:
• led the first sit-ins to take place in the state of Mississippi at Jackson (Marcl1 9);
• integrated 42 new places of public accommodations in Oklahoma City including the John A. Brown
Department Store;
• shifted the emphasis of sit-ins from public accommodations to the area of jobs; led a successful
"selective buying" campaign in Durham, North Carolina, where more than 100 new job
opportunities were made available to Negro wage earners;
• ended discrinlination in off-camnus housing against black students at Rutgers University: and
History of the NAACP Youth & College Division I NAACP
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• established active chapters at the following predominantly white institutions of higher learning in
the south: Duke Uruversity, University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma; marking
the first time since 1948 that the Association was able to organize and gain formal recognition at
such institutions in the south.
For black Americans, especially for members of the "New Generation", 1969 was a year of unparalleled
civil rights activity. Young people shouted and demonstrated for an end to inequality for blacks and
other oppressed people, particularly in economics, education, politics and cultural survival. The
members of the Division, under the direction of James Brown, Jr., were in the midst of such activities. In
many communities, they provided the catalyst that stimulated the uncovering and correction of many
wrongs. The division pursued with vigor four basic objectives: (1) to inform youth of the problems
affecting black and other minority groups; (2) to advance the economic, educational, social and
political status of black people and other minority groups; (3) to stimulate an appreciation of the black
contribution to civilization; and (4) to develop an intelligent and militant youth leadership through
devising, working out and pursuing local programs.
1980-1990S:
Continuing the Struggle
Priority for the Division in the 80'S was voter registration and mobilization. Registration efforts in tlle
northeast were intense. Division units conducted registration drives in shopping centers, subway
stations, cheese lines and other public places. The Over-ground railroad was a three-phase project
whose major goal was to stamp out voter apathy and encourage voter participation. This project was
one that included youth and adults who walked from northern to southern California, throughout the
Midwest, in the souili and on the east coast.
During the 1990'S, the Youth and College Division focused attention on the glaring disparities that
continued to exist in ilie United States. In 1991 and 1992, youth units in ilie south, particularly in
Mississippi, mobilized iliousands of community members to address unequal educational opportunities
for Black students and to advocate for the survival of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In
1996, the National Day of College Preparation was created in partnership with The Princeton Review
Foundation as a means to present college preparation skills and financial aid information to high school
students and parents. In an effort to address youth violence in the black community, the "Stop the
Violence, Start the Love" Campaign was created under the direction of Rev. Jamal Harrison Bryant in
1997·
2000-2005:
"Renewed Youth Activism"
Beginning in 2000, the Youth & College Divisions ushered in a renewed spirit ofleadership and activism
in the NAACP. Notable events during this period included:
• South Carolina Youth & College Division helped lead the largest march in ilie south since the height
of the civil rights movement, with over 100,000 people participating in their King Day at the Dome
mobilization in 2000.
• In 2001, death threats against black students at Penn State prompted an extended sit-in organized
by the Penn State College Chapter and supported by NAACP college units from Howard University.
• In 2002, membership and leadership development within the Division were on-going and
expanding, as the Phoenix Project was created under the leadership of Jeffery Johnson as a way to
engage young people in juvenile detention facilities.
• The National Take Affirmative Action Day was created in 2002 as a vehicle for young people to
become engaged in the fight to protect this much needed policy.
• Youth units across ilie countrY mobilized in
200:<
to call for the release of Marcus Dixon - an 18 vear
History of the NAACP Youth & College Division I NAACP
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old African American honor student in Rome, Georgia who was convicted to ten years in prison for
having consensual sex with a white classmate who was just three months shy of her 16th birthday.
As a result of the Youth and College Division national efforts, under the direction of Brandon T.
Neal, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned Marcus Dixon's conviction.
2006-2011:
"The New Front Line"
Under the direction of Stefanie L. Brown, the
Youth & College Division continues to be one
of the strongest and most capable elements in
the NAACP. Through the implementation of
the Division's VOTE HARD youth civic
engagement campaign in 2008, over 50,000
young people have been registered to vote.
Additional highlights during this time period
include:
• Thousands of NAACP youth members
from around the nation rallied at the
steps of the United States Supreme Court
in advance of the court's decision on the
Gratz v. Bollinger case, regarding the
University of Michigan's undergraduate
affirmative action admissions policy in
2006.
• In 2007, youth units mobilized from
across the country to Jena, Louisiana to
march against the excessive punishment
against six African American boys. In the
same year, the Georgia Youth & College
Division helped lead a national march in Atlanta, Georgia to keep the Voting Rights Act alive.
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History of the NAACP Youth & College Division I NAACP
• The NAACP Youth & College Division condemned off-campus parties held by predominately white
fraternities at Clemson University and the University of California-San Diego where students mocked
African Americans and civil rights icons in derogatory manners. As a result, the Division created the
Campaign to End Campus Racism in 2007.
• Texas Youth & College Division leaders mobilized students from across the state to Austin, Texas to
testify against the state school board for trying to erase African American and civil rights history
from public education textbooks.
• On September 15, 2010 Mississippi State Youth & College Division mobilized over a
people to the state capitol to speak out for the freedom of the Scott Sisters.
1000 young
• In 2011, the North Carolina Youth & College Division mobilized thousands of young people to the
state capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina to address re-segregation issues promoted by the Wake
County School Board.
Since it was founded in 1909, the NAACP has provided and trained more leaders for the black
community than any other secular organization. Virtually every black American leader, public and
private, local and national, learned the spirit of public service and the techniques of leadership through
the NAACP. Roy Wilkins, Rosa Parks, Vernon Jordan, Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Patricia Harris,
Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Bunche, Dr. Ronald Walters, and many others served their apprenticeships
in the Association's youth units - including the NAACP Chairman of the Board of Directors, Roslyn M.
Brock and the President and CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous.
Today there are over 600 NAACP Youth Councils, High School Chapters and College Chapters actively
involved in social justice advocacy by addressing local issues as well as a national agenda made up of
problems including: Education, Economic Empowerment, Health, Juvenile Justice, and Civic
Engagement. The NAACP is the only major civil rights organization, which encourages young people to
participate fully in all aspects of its structure, including membership on the National Board of Directors.
tel 2009 -2016 National Assod.tion for tkeAdvancement of Colored People I Privaey Policy ITerms of VIS;
NAACP I youth Membership
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