The NAACP at 100 -- A Photo Retrospective

A look at the people, places and events that defined the long struggle for racial equality in America.

• 

  1 of 19

  Founding Father

  Joel Elias Spingarn, one of the NAACP's founders and second president. Spingarn was also one of the organization's first Jewish members.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  2 of 19

  The Man Who Killed Jim Crow

  Lawyer, NAACP litigation director and former Dean of Howard University Law School Charles Hamilton Houston. He was involved in nearly every civil rights case brought to the Supreme Court between 1930-1954. Houston also trained Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  3 of 19

  Lest We Forget...

  A flag, frequently hung from the NAACP headquarters in New York, announces the death of a lynching victim.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  4 of 19

  Dynamic Duo

  Former NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins and former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall at work in the NAACP office.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  5 of 19

  First Lady First

  Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt attends an NAACP event in the 1950s.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  6 of 19

  The Dream Team

  The 1964 conference on civil rights: From left: Bayard Rustin, Jack Greenberg, Whitney Young Jr., James Farmer, Roy Wilkins, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis and A. Philip Randolph.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  7 of 19

  Ole Miss Man

  Slain civil rights activist and former NAACP state field representative Medgar Evers. Evers, who worked hard to desegregate the University of Mississippi, was shot in his driveway in 1963. His killing shocked the nation and further energized the campaign to desegregate American life.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  8 of 19

  Birth of a Nation

  The controversial 1915 silent film by D.W. Griffith was met with protest and demands of censorship by the NAACP. Despite the organization's national campaign against Birth of a Nation, it went on to become one of the highest selling Hollywood films, eventually beat out by "Gone with the Wind" in 1940.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  9 of 19

  Kentucky Klass Klash

  A student of an integrated school in Sturgis, Ky. is escorted by the National Guard at the end of class.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  10 of 19

  At the Office

  NAACP and The Crisis magazine office at 69 Fifth Avenue in New York City, N.Y.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  11 of 19

  Get Out & Vote!

  A school bus sign advertising one of the NAACP voter registration drives.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  12 of 19

  Signs of the Times

  NAACP members at the 1934 Crime Conference in Washington, D.C.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  13 of 19

  White Water, Black Water

  A young black man drinks from a segregated water cooler in 1939.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  14 of 19

  Membership and Dues

  In 1941, an NAACP membership poster targets new recruits and encourages readership of the magazine.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  15 of 19

  Visible Threats

  Former NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins holds up a hangman's noose from Florida that was sent to the NAACP national headquarters.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  16 of 19

  Miss Lena Sings the Blues

  Medgar Evers escorts singer Lena Horne into a Jackson, Miss. meeting hall for a civil rights rally in 1963.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  17 of 19

  Silent Protest

  British NAACP picketers brandish anti-lynching posters.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  18 of 19

  War Wounds

  Sept. 5, 1963: Pedestrians stop to look at the damaged home of NAACP attorney Arthur Shores. Assailants had bombed Shores' Birmingham, Ala. home the night before, injuring his wife.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]
• 

  19 of 19

  Moving Forward

  March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963.

  related galleries

  Covering a Century of Crisis [11]

  The Root Day of Service [12]

  Black and Right [13]