Why All Americans Should Join the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People “It is a white man’s problem which confronts us. The fault is in us, not in our colored neighbors. It is our senseless and wicked prejudice against our fellow-men which is the root of all our troubles.” — MOORFIELD STOREY President, N. A. A. C, P. “Of two things, we Negroes have dreamed for many years: an organiza- tion so effective and so powerful that when discrimination and injustice touched one Negro, it would touch 12,000,000. We have not got this yet, but we have taken a great step toward it. We have dreamed, too, of an organi- zation which would work ceaselessly to make Americans know that the so-called ‘Negro problem’ is simply one phase of the vaster problem of democracy in America, and that those who wish free- dom and justice for their country, must wish it for every black citizen. This is the great and evermore insistent mes- sage of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” — W. E. B. DU BOIS Director, Publications and Research, N. A. A, C, P, Some Achievements of the N. A. A. C. P. in the year 1919 THE BALLOT Led by the Atlanta, Georgia, Branch, Negroes in Atlanta registered 3,000 voters; former number 700. They defeated a bond issue, having no as- surance the money would be used for colored schools and succeeded in se- curing an additional grammar school, the promise of a second, and a de- finite promise of a first high school. Waco, Texas, Negroes went into court, secured the right to vote at Democratic (white) primaries and organized a Branch. Asheville, N. C., Falls Church, Va. and Columbia, S. C., registered voters, the latter securing represen- tation on jury. Northern branches have used their influence to secure Civil Rights bills, notably in Michigan (strong efforts in Ohio failed) ; to back legislation in- troduced into congress favorable to the Negro, and to combat discrimi- nation in government departments. The National Office kept watch of Congressional action to see that noth- ing to hami)er Negro suffrage went into the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment. One hundred per cent Ameri- canism cannot exist until all Americans vote on all issues in all states. LEGAL DEFENSE Race Riots marked the year 1919. The police arrested colored citizens who were defending their homes and often failed to arrest white citizens who left their homes to hunt and shoot Negroes. In Chicago, the Branch and the N. A. A. C. P. secured the ser’/ices of eminent lawyers and in the cases of 69 Negroes tried secured the ac- cpiittal and discharge of 59. Months before the Omaha Riots, the Omaha Branch worked to prevent the printing of untrue stories by the newspapers regarding the attacks of colored men upon white women. The cases of the twelve men sen- tenced to be executed for participating in an alleged uprising in Elaine, Phillips County, Arkansas, have been appealed through the efforts of the Association. An exposure of condi- tions of peonage in the cotton belt will accompany their trial. The Anniston Branch, aided by other Branches in Alabama, and by the Legal Committee of the District of Columbia Branch, has delayed the execution of Edgar C. Caldwell, a col- ored soldier, whom the military author- ities gave to the civil authorities. The Law Should be Co/or-Blind LYNCHING The N. A. A. C. P.:— Promoted First National Confer- ence on Lynching, held in New York, May 5 and 6. Issued Address to the Nation, signed by 150 prominent citizens, including ex-President Taft, Attorney-General Palmer, the gover- nors of seven states and the heads of many American universities. Circulated 102,521 pamphlets on lynching. Has made lynching a National Issue. Upon the Association’s request Senator Curtis of Kansas intro- duced a resolution for a Congressional Investigation of Lynching. Con- gressman Dyer of Missouri introduced a bill to make lynching a federal offense. The Association organized and gave publicity to the congres- sional hearings on these bills and its officials appeared at the hearings. During the year 78 Negroes were lynched. Of this number ten were ex-soldiers. Eleven of the men lynch- ed were bmmed alive. In no instance were the offenders punished. The N. A. A. C. P. believes that since the state is powerless to punish the offenders, the federal government must execute the law. Mob Murder Must Go PUBLICITY 13I press stories were sent out dur- ing the year. 27 new pieces of literature were printed. 19 articles were contributed by the official staff to leading magazines. 427,000, nearly half a million, pieces of literature were distributed throughout the country. The Crisis, organ of the Association, with a paid-up circulation of 100,000, reached every state in the union and was sold on every continent. The Association reaches millions of readers through its publicity service. Colored and white readers of news- papers throughout the United States are kept informed of legislation intro- duced in Congress, of the results of Congressional hearings, legal defense of the Negro’s Civil Rights, wrongs which require redress. Every public official, from Gover- nor to Sheriff, who upholds the law against the mob, is commended in dispatches published in the white press from coast to coast. Through the colored press, colored people are made to feel their solidarity in striv- ing against violenee and injustice. Let The Facts Speak BRANCHES, 1919 The Association increased from, 165 Branches to 310 Branches. The membership increased from 42,723 members to 91,203 members. The Branches are distributed as follows: Section and Division No. of Branches Member- ship The North 120 38,420 The South 154 42,588 The West 33 7,440 Outside United States 3 255 Members at Large (Resi- dence not specified) . . . . 2,500 The N. A. A. C. P. is organized in 42 States. In 5 years it has grown from 24 Branches and 3,000 members to its present membership of over 91,000. Every Branch means that justice to the Negro and full Negro citizenship is so much nearer realiza- tion. Every Branch links the local com- munity with the nation and binds the members of one Branch with the members of all Branches. A united front will secure the Negro’s Full Citizenship Rights. The Tenth Anniversary of the N. A. A. C. P. was celebrated at Cleveland, O., June 22 to 29,1919 APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP MEMBERSHIP “Any person may become and remain a member of this Association with the consent of the Board of Directors by accepting membership in writing and by paying annually in advance a fee of at least one dollar. “Any person paying two dollars and fifty cents or more shall be entitled to receive the CRISIS without further charge during the year of such membership.” — By-Laws. c C5 O <1 Q H I ss H ® O H u o 0> C 2 ci to 4) zn 2 S S! S ro ^ a C5 o a o U "O National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 70 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK NATIONAL OFFICERS President Moorfield Storey Vice-Presidents Archibald H. GRiMKfe Rev. John Haynes Holmes Bishop John Hurst .Arthur B. Spingarn Oswald Garrison Villard EXECUTIVE OFFICERS John R. Shillady, Secretary J. E. Spingarn, Treasurer Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Director of Publi- cations and Research James Weldon Johnson, Field Secretary William Pickens, Associate Field Secretary Walter F. White, Assistant Secretary BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman, Mary White Ovington, New York .lane Addams Dr. J. Max Barber Dr. C. E. Bentley Rev. Hutchens C. Bishop Hon. Arthur Capper E. Burton Ceruti R. R. Church Prof. George W'illiam Cook George W. Crawford Harry E. Davis Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois Archibald H. Grimk^ Rev. John Haynes Holmes Bishop John Hurst Dr. V. Morton-Jones Florence Kelley Paul Kennaday Joseph Prince Loud John E. Milholland Hon. Charles Nagel Harry H. Pace Charles Edward Russell Dr. William A. Sinclair Arthur B. Spingarn J. E. Spingarn Moorfield Storey Charles II. Studin Mary B. Talbert Neval H. Thomas Lillian D. Wald Rev. G. R. Waller William English Walling Butler R. Wilson Col. Charles Young 1