As segregation tightened and racial oppression escalated across the United States, some leaders of the African American community, often called the talented tenth, began to reject Booker T. Washington’s conciliatory approach. W. E. B. Du Bois and other black leaders channeled their activism by founding the Niagara Movement in 1905. Later, they joined white reformers in 1909 to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Early in its fight for equality, the NAACP used the federal courts to challenge disenfranchisement and residential segregation. Job opportunities were the primary focus of the National Urban League, which was established in 1910. Show
During the Great Migration (1910–1920), African Americans by the thousands poured into industrial cities to find work and later to fill labor shortages created by World War I. Though they continued to face exclusion and discrimination in employment, as well as some segregation in schools and public accommodations, Northern black men faced fewer barriers to voting. As their numbers increased, their vote emerged as a crucial factor in elections. The war and migration bolstered a heightened self-confidence in African Americans that manifested in the New Negro Movement of the 1920s. Evoking the “New Negro,” the NAACP lobbied aggressively for a federal anti-lynching law. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal provided more federal support to African Americans than at any time since Reconstruction. Even so, New Deal legislation and policies continued to allow considerable discrimination. During the mid-thirties the NAACP launched a legal campaign against de jure (according to law) segregation, focusing on inequalities in public education. By 1936, the majority of black voters had abandoned their historic allegiance to the Republican Party and joined with labor unions, farmers, progressives, and ethnic minorities in assuring President Roosevelt’s landslide re-election. The election played a significant role in shifting the balance of power in the Democratic Party from its Southern bloc of white conservatives towards this new coalition. See timeline for this period NAACP Founder William English WallingNAACP Founder Mary White OvingtonThe Founding of the NAACPPlatform adopted by the National Negro Committee. Printed document, 1909. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (019.00.00) Arthur Spingarn NAACP LawyerThe Founding of the Urban LeagueCommittee on Urban Conditions among Negroes. Minutes of the first meeting, September 29, 1910. National Urban League Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (022.00.00) Courtesy of the National Urban League Guinn v. United States, 1915Guinn v. United States. Board minutes, June 3, 1913. Typescript. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (023.00.00) Courtesy of the NAACP Jim Crow Restrictions“NO DOGS, NEGROES, MEXICANS.” Lonestar Restaurant Association, Dallas, Texas. Printed “Jim Crow” sign, n.d. Black History Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (024.00.00) Author Toni Morrison Interviewed by Camille O. Cosby in 2004An Open Letter of Protest to President WilsonNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A Letter to President Woodrow Wilson on Federal Race Discrimination, August 15, 1913. Printed document. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (025.00.00) Courtesy of the NAACP The Silent Protest ParadeCharles H. Buchanan v. William Warley, 1917In the Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1916 [no.231] Charles H. Buchanan v. William Warley. Pamphlet. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (026.00.00) Courtesy of the NAACP Failure to Pass Bill on LynchingsFederal Law Against Lynchings, Speech of Hon. L. C. Dyer of Missouri in the House of Representatives, May 7, 1918. Pamphlet. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (255.00.00) Courtesy of the NAACP A. Philip Randolph on Marcus Garvey Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Courtesy of NBC News Report from the Detroit Branch of the NAACP
Blues Musician "Big" Bill Broonzy Interviewed by Alan Lomax in 1947Walter Francis White NAACP LeaderWalter White's Personal Tragic Story of the Segregated SouthThe New NegroThe New Negro: An Interpretation. Edited by Alain Locke; book decoration and portraits by Winold Reiss (1886−1953). New York: A. and C. Boni, 1925. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (033.00.00) Nixon v. Herndon (1927) and Nixon v. Condon (1932)
The Joint Committee on National RecoveryDr. Mary McLeod Bethune Civil Rights ActivistThe Margold ReportNathan R. Margold. Preliminary Report to the Joint Committee Supervising the Expenditure of the 1930 Appropriation by the American Fund for Public Service. Typescript, [1931]. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (035.00.00) NAACP’s Chief Strategist Charles Hamilton HoustonEleanor Roosevelt’s Efforts against LynchingEleanor Roosevelt to NAACP Secretary Walter White, March 19, 1936. Typed letter. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (041.00.00) The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Agreement with the Pullman Company, 1937. Pamphlet. A. Philip Randolph Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (044.00.00) Courtesy of the A. Philip Randolph Institute Missouri ex. rel. Gaines v. Canada, 1938Charles H. Houston to Walter White, May 24, 1938. Autograph letter. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (046.00.00) Which group struggled economically during the 1920s?Prosperity and Thrift: Poverty in the 1920s. Some groups did not participate fully in the emergent consumer economy, notably both African American and white farmers and immigrants. While one-fifth of the American population made their living on the land, rural poverty was widespread.
Who was hit the hardest during the 1920?Hardest hit were immigrants and black Americans. Working hours remained high. Many people were in debt. 60 per cent of cars and 80 per cent of radios were bought on credit.
Which group did not enjoy the economic prosperity of the 1920s Why?Although these were prosperous times for many, some groups did not share in the good times of the 1920s. Farmers, African Americans, Native Americans and workers in some industries suffered from declining incomes and unemployment.
What were the economic conditions in the US during the 1920's?The 1920s is the decade when America's economy grew 42%. 1 Mass production spread new consumer goods into every household. The modern auto and airline industries were born. The U.S. victory in World War I gave the country its first experience of being a global power.
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