Historical Note
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States. Its principal objective is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of minority group citizens in the United States. The NAACP is committed to achieving this objective through non‑violence and relies upon the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts. It persists in the use of legal and moral persuasion even in the face of overt and violent racial hostility.
The NAACP was formed in 1909 in New York City by a biracial group of citizens committed to social justice. On February 12, over the signatures of sixty persons, the call was issued for a meeting on the concept of creating an organization that would be an aggressive watchdog of Negro liberties. This event marks the founding of the NAACP. Today the NAACP is a network of more than 2,200 branches covering all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Japan and Germany. They are divided into seven regions and are managed and governed by a National Board of Directors. The NAACP is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Total membership exceeds 500,000. This collection pertains to the New Orleans branch of the NAACP.
