On Feb. 12, 1908, the first meeting of the NAACP was held in New York City. Mary White Ovington (a suffragist), William English Walling (a labor reformer who was born to a slave-holding family), and Henry Moskowitz (a black civil rights activist) chose Lincoln’s birthday for this organizational meeting. Two of the three were white. They were motivated by the Race Riot of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois (home town of Lincoln). From August 14-16, 1908, a white mob rioted after it found that two black men accused of rape and attempted murder had been transferred by the sheriff. They took out their rage on black neighborhoods, killing nine blacks, burning homes, and destroying businesses. It ended when the state militia was brought in. Five whites were killed by the militia. One rioter was tried and convicted of a lesser offense. This event, which occurred in the North, emphasized the need for improvements in the status of African-Americans. The meeting of the trio led to a meeting that included members of the Niagara Movement, suffragists, social workers, labor activists, educators, clergymen, and journalists. Prominent founding members included W.E.B. Dubois, Ida Wells, and Florence Kelley. The organization was influenced by the abolitionist movement. It established the goals of equal rights, an end to racial prejudice, full enfranchisement of blacks, legal justice, equal education, and fair employment. The focus was on ending disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws. Methods decided on were legal action, lobbying, peaceful protesting, and publicity.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/naacp/founding-and-early-years.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP
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