Freedom Fund Banquet 2002

About the NAACP

Leadership:  Bruce Gordon is the President, CEO and the official spokesperson for the NAACP.  The Chairman of the Board is Julian Bond. 

Structure: The NAACP is a network of more than 2,200 branches covering all 50 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.

Foundation:  The NAACP was formed in 1909 in New York City by a group of black and white citizens committed to helping to right social injustices.  On February 12, over the signatures of 60 person, 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.  The organization was backed by the New York Evening Post.

Founders:  Mary White Ovington, Dr. Henry Moscowitz, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling, Ida Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. DuBois led the "Call" to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty.

The NAACP Washington Bureau represents one of the primary forces in lobbying for civil rights in the nation's capital.  The Bureau's activities are directed primarily at the Congress, the Executive Branch and governmental agencies.