[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     CELEBRATING THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION TO BLACK HISTORY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 26, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Black History Month 
and to enter into the Record an editorial from New York CaribNews for 
the week ending February 19, 2008, ``Celebrating the African-American 
Contribution to Black History--the NAACP--Then and Now.''
  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
(NAACP), originally called the National Negro Committee was founded on 
February 12, 1909 by Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, 
Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, William English Walling. 
The 6 founders, who comprised a multi-racial group of Americans, 
renewed the struggle for civil and political liberty. We now know the 
organization as the NAACP.
  In the early years, the NAACP concentrated on using the courts to 
overturn the Jim Crow laws that permitted racial discrimination. The 
NAACP in 1913 organized opposition to President Woodrow Wilson's 
introduction of racial segregation into the federal government policy. 
The NAACP devoted a significant amount of energy after World War I and 
in the 1920s and 1930s to publicize the lynching of blacks throughout 
the United States and sought federal legislation against those states 
which refused to prosecute.
  Today, the NAACP continues its mission to ensure the political, 
educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and 
to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.

                  (From the CaribNews, Feb. 19, 2008)

Celebrating the African-American Contribution to Black History--NAACP--
                              Then and Now

       The NAACP was founded as the National Negro Committee on 
     February 12, 1909, by a multi-racial group of political 
     activists including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Henry 
     Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard, and 
     William English Walling. DuBois edited the association's 
     magazine, The Crisis, which reached more than 30,000 people. 
     One often overlooked aspect of the NAACP's history is that 
     the Jewish community contributed hugely to the NAACP's 
     founding and continued financing.
       In 1914, Professor Emeritus Joel Spingarn of Columbia 
     University became Chairman of the NAACP and recruited for its 
     board such Jewish leaders as Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, 
     and Rabbi Stephen Wise.
       In the climactic civil rights drives of the 1950s and 
     1960s, Jewish participation was all but overwhelming.
       The NAACP's headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland and it 
     has regional offices in California, New York, Michigan, 
     Missouri, Georgia, Texas, and Maryland. Each regional office 
     is responsible for coordinating conferences in the states 
     included in that region. Local, youth, and college chapters 
     organize activities for individual members. The NAACP is 
     governed nationally by a 64-member board of directors led by 
     a chairman. The board elects one person as the president and 
     chief executive officer for the organization.
       Departments within the NAACP govern areas of action. Local 
     chapters are supported by the Branch and Field Services 
     department and the Youth and College department. The Legal 
     Department focuses on court cases of broad application to 
     minorities, such as systematic discrimination in employment, 
     government, or education. The Washington, D.C. bureau is 
     responsible for lobbying the U.S. Government. The Education 
     Department works to improve public education at the local, 
     state and federal levels. The goal of the Health Division is 
     to advance health care for minorities through public policy 
     and education.
       As of 2004 the NAACP had approximately 500,000 members.

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