The Niagara Movement – Forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Posted on July 11, 2015 Updated on July 11, 2015

In the year 1905, African-American scholar and activist W. E. B. Du Bois spearheaded the formation of The Niagara Movement, a civil rights organization of the African Americans. The movement was founded on 11th July 1905. Being denied entry into any of the hotels on the American side, the first meeting of the group was held on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls and that was how the movement got its name. Other eminent names associated with this movement include William Monroe Trotter, Fredrick L. McGhee of St. Paul, Minnesota and Charles Edwin Bentley of Chicago.

The Niagara Movement, a major step towards black militancy was formed primarily to oppose the Accommodation Policy advocated by Booker T. Washington in the Atlanta Compromise of 1895. In his publication The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois had vehemently criticized the conciliatory policies of Washington and his refusal to support black rights. The movement called for the end of racial discrimination and sought equality in education and economic opportunity amongst others.

The movement slowly grew and by 1906 it had spread over 34 states and included 170 members. However, even though the movement managed to attract initial attention it did not manage to have any substantial impact on legislative policies. Despite encountering several difficulties, both external and within the group, annual meetings of the Niagara Movement were held until 1908.

In 1908, a major race riot broke out in Springfield, Illinois in which around 2000 blacks were forced to flee and 8 were killed. Following this riot, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in 1910 by the black militants with support from the white liberals with an aim to combat racial discrimination. Du Bois , the founding member of the Niagara Movement was appointed the NAACP’s director of publicity and research of NAACP.

The Niagara Movement was suspended in 1910 and NAACP gradually emerged as the principal African-American civil rights organization of the 20th century.

Source: nps.gov; Biography.com; Pbs.org; Encyclopaedia Britannica; TeachingAmericanHistory.org