who was the naacp first lawyer to work on segregation in 1930

by Ismael Considine 8 min read

The first general counsel of NAACP, Charles Hamilton Houston
Charles Hamilton Houston
Through his work at the NAACP, Houston played a role in nearly every civil rights case that reached the US Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Houston worked to bring an end to the exclusion of African Americans from juries across the South.
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exposed the hollowness of the "separate but equal" doctrine and paved the way for the Supreme Court ruling outlawing school segregation.

What did the NAACP do to end segregation?

The NAACP in the 1930's. During the 1930's the NAACP worked on several issues despite the limitations which the Great Depression made on contributions from African Americans and foundations. They would work successfully against discrimination in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs, segregated southern schools and develop a coterie of African American …

Why did the NAACP target law schools with anti-Jim Crow lawsuits?

What was the naacp lawyer’s name who fought for the Brook community and integration of the schools? In 1935, White recruited Charles H. Houston as NAACP chief counsel. Houston was the Howard University law school dean whose strategy on school-segregation cases paved the way for his protégé Thurgood Marshall to prevail in 1954’s Brown v.

Who founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund?

in 1930, the NAACP was able to hire Nathan Margold, a prominent New York lawyer, for a three-month period. Margold's contribution was the submission of a proposed plan of attack on "segregation irre­ mediably coupled with discrimination" in the public schools (p. 27). Margold, did not remain involved long enough, however, to do any­

What was the NAACP fighting for in the 1930s?

Dec 10, 2019 · Du Bois, the NAACP would take the bully pulpit to push for the abolition of segregation and racial caste distinctions, and it would fight for open and equal access to education and employment for Negroes. It would crusade against lynching and offer legal assistance to defend black people mistreated in criminal court.

What did the NAACP do in 1930?

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest civil rights organization. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the association led the black civil rights struggle in fighting injustices such as the denial of voting rights, racial violence, discrimination in employment, and segregated public facilities.

Who did Charles Hamilton Houston work with?

In 1935–40 he served as special counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), arguing several important civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.Mar 8, 2022

Who Killed Jim Crow?

Charles Hamilton HoustonWhile Charles Hamilton Houston did not actively argue the Brown decision, he is given credit for laying the ground work that led to the NAACP strategy. Houston has been called “The Man who Killed Jim Crow” for his work in helping to end segregation.Dec 16, 2020

What was the Supreme Court's record in segregation cases in the years before Brown v. Board of Education?

What was the Supreme Court's record in segregation cases in the years before Brown v. Board of Education? The Court overturned forms of segregation using the separate but equal rule on factual grounds. racial classifications.

Who was the NAACP secretary in 1932?

Towards the end of 1932, in response to employment discrimination, the NAACP sent Roy Wilkins, then the assistant NAACP secretary, and George Schuyler, a journalist and author, undercover to investigate conditions for the 30,000 black workers in the War Department’s Mississippi River Flood Control Project.

Who was the NAACP in 1931?

By 1931, the NAACP undertook the defense of the Scottsboro Boys, nine black youths wrongfully accused of raping two white women, before losing control of the case to the Communist-led International Labor Defense.

Why did Nathan Margold leave the NAACP?

Nathan Margold resigned from the NAACP in 1933 to join the Interior Department as a solicitor. In 1934 the Joint Committee of the NAACP and the American Fund for Public Service retained Charles Houston on a part-time basis to direct a legal campaign against discrimination in education and interstate transportation.

What was the NAACP's fight for freedom?

NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom. The Great Depression. With the onset of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the NAACP confronted an internal dispute and external criticism over the merits of pursuing an agenda of civil and political equality versus an agenda of economic development and independence.

Why did the NAACP lose the retrial?

The NAACP lost the bid because it lacked a full-time legal staff , spurring Executive Secretary Walter White to hire Charles H. Houston and set up a legal department.

Why was Marion Anderson banned from performing at the DAR?

In January 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) barred Marion Anderson from performing her Howard University-sponsored spring concert at the DAR’s Constitution Hall, the largest concert venue in Washington, D.C. The NAACP established the Marian Anderson Citizens Committee to rally public support for the singer and secure a venue. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the DAR to protest the exclusion. She worked with Walter White and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes to arrange an outdoor concert for Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial in April coinciding with Easter and the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Mrs. Roosevelt also agreed to present the Spingarn Medal to Marian Anderson at the NAACP’s annual convention in July.

Why did Charles Houston work for the NAACP?

Charles Houston, NAACP Special Counsel, targeted law schools with anti-Jim Crow lawsuits because he was optimistic that, based on their own experience, white judges would reject unequal training for black attorneys. After winning the Murray v. Maryland case, concerning the desegregation of the University of Maryland Law School, Houston worked with Marshall and Sidney Redmond on Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada. In 1935 the University of Missouri Law School denied entry to Lloyd Gaines, an honor graduate of Lincoln University in Missouri, offering to build a law school at Lincoln or pay Gaines’s tuition at an out-of-state school. Houston and Redmond argued the case before the Supreme Court in 1938. The Court ruled Missouri must offer Gaines an equal facility within its borders or admit him to the University’s law school. In response, the State legislature tried to erect a makeshift law school, inciting Houston to renew litigation. Meanwhile, Gaines disappeared, abruptly ending the case. His fate remains a mystery.

Who was the first general counsel of the NAACP?

Charles Hamilton Houston. The first general counsel of NAACP, Charles Hamilton Houston exposed the hollowness of the "separate but equal" doctrine and paved the way for the Supreme Court ruling outlawing school segregation. The legal brilliance used to undercut the "separate but equal" principle and champion other civil rights cases earned Houston ...

What did the Supreme Court say about the admission of black people to the University of Missouri?

In a 1938 Supreme Court case concerning the admission of a Black man to the University of Missouri, Houston argued that it was unconstitutional for the state to bar Blacks from admission since there was no "separate but equal" facility.

How did Houston's strategy work?

Houston's shrewd strategy worked, effectively paving the way for desegregation. While not rejecting the premise of "separate but equal" facilities, the Supreme Court ruled that Black students could be admitted to a white school if there was only one school. Houston's shrewd strategy worked, effectively paving the way for desegregation.

Why did Houston leave Howard University?

Houston left Howard University to serve as the first general counsel He played a pivotal role in nearly every Supreme Court civil rights case in the two decades before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954. Houston worked tirelessly to fight against Jim Crow laws that prevented Blacks from serving on juries and accessing housing.

Who was the lead lawyer for the naacp on the Brown case?

In 1954, Thurgood Marshall and a team of NAACP attorneys won Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court held that segregation in public education violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Who founded the naacp and why?

The NAACP was created in 1909 by an interracial group consisting of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Mary White Ovington, and others concerned with the challenges facing African Americans, especially in the wake of the 1908 Springfield (Illinois) Race Riot.

Who is considered the father of the naacp?

NAACP Founder Charles Edward Russell After twenty years in the field, he won renown as a muckraker and politician.

Why did Woodson pick February?

In 1926, Woodson pioneered the celebration of “Negro History Week”, designated for the second week in February, to coincide with marking the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

What Black History means to me?

Black History is a time of rejoicing, celebrating And thanking those African-Americans for giving Us hope or a life lesson that could be used. Black History isn’t just about all the bad times We’ve been through. It’s about integrity, leadership, and determination.

Why do we celebrate Black History Month in Canada?

During Black History Month, people in Canada celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate, and prosperous nation it is today.

How did Black History Month start in Canada?

It was initiated in Canada by the Ontario Black History Society and introduced to Parliament in December 1995 by Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected as a member of Parliament. Black History Month was officially observed across Canada for the first time in February 1996 (see also Black History in Canada).

Who was the chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund?

Soon after, Marshall joined Houston at NAACP as a staff lawyer. In 1940, he was named chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which was created to mount a legal assault against segregation. Marshall became one of the nation's leading attorneys.

Who was the first black justice?

Four years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson named Marshall U.S. solicitor general and on Aug. 30, 1967, Marshall was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and joined the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Black justice.

What did Marshall do for the Supreme Court?

During his nearly 25-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Marshall fought for affirmative action for minorities, held strong against the death penalty, and supported of a woman's right to choose if an abortion was appropriate for her.

What was the impact of Marshall's rule on the Supreme Court?

His mission was equal justice for all. Marshall used the power of the courts to fight racism and discrimination, tear down Jim Crow segregation, change the status quo, and make life better for the most vulnerable in our nation.

What was Marshall's first legal case?

After graduating from Howard, one of Marshall's first legal cases was against the University of Maryland Law School in the 1935 case Murray v. Pearson. Working with his mentor Charles Hamilton Houston, Marshall sued the school for denying admission to Black applicants solely on the basis of race.

Who was the first black supreme court justice?

Thurgood Marshall. Thurgood Marshall was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to fight Jim Crow and dismantle segregation in the U.S. Marshall was a towering figure who became the nation's first Black United States Supreme Court Justice.

Where did Marshall go to law school?

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1930. He applied to the University of Maryland Law School but was rejected because he was Black. Marshall received his law degree from Howard University Law School in 1933, graduating first in his class.

Who was the leader of the NAACP in 1948?

In 1948, McKinley Burnett, heading a revitalized local chapter of the NAACP reproached the board for failing to fully desegregate the city’s public school system and dispatched a representative to New York to meet with the national organization to discuss pursuing a school desegregation case.

What is the Topeka NAACP?

Board of Education, Topeka, the core membership of the Topeka NAACP remained activists in an African American community still deeply troubled by the struggle to end the separation of children by race in the city’s classrooms. Topeka’s black teachers refused to lend their support.

What was the Wright case?

In the Wright case, the district court denied an injunction to prevent the board of education from transferring African American students “from a school maintained for white children to one maintained for colored children.”.

When was the segregation of Topeka schools?

The Segregation of Topeka's Public School System, 1879-1951. 6th grade, Grant School, early 1900's. Courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society. by Thom Rosenblum, National Park Service Historian [1] As the First World War entered its final year, a bill to extend the authority to an ever widening circle of communities throughout the State ...

When did the color citizen find Monroe Street School?

In 1879, the Topeka Colored Citizen found the black Monroe Street School so mismanaged “that many children are in it are just where they were 2-3 years ago” expressing the opinion that the children were purposely held back so as to forestall their entering the city’s integrated junior high schools.

Who was Nathaniel Sawyer?

Nathaniel Sawyer, a Topeka teacher and member of the local branch of the NAACP, laid out the case of the African American community before Governor Henry Allen. Presaging the argument that lay at the heart of Brown v.

Which amendment was challenged by Ulysses Graham?

In 1941, Ulysses Graham challenged this pattern of school attendance as violating his son’s constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the State of Kansas.