The Springfield Race Riot Leads to the NAACP's Founding
A white mob's rampage in Lincoln's hometown convinces Black and white reformers they need a permanent national organization
Quick facts
- Location
- New York City
- Key figures
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling
- Trigger
- The 1908 Springfield, Illinois race riot
What happened
In August 1908 a white mob rioted for two days in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln's hometown, attacking Black residents and businesses. William English Walling and his wife Anna Strunsky traveled to Springfield to investigate and, per the Library of Congress exhibit on the NAACP's founding, Walling's resulting article calling for a serious national organization to renew the abolitionist spirit set the founding in motion. In January 1909, an interracial group met in Walling's New York apartment, and in February 1909 they issued "the Call," written by Oswald Garrison Villard, inviting supporters to a national conference timed to Lincoln's birthday centennial. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was formally organized from that conference, with founders including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, and Walling himself.
Why it matters
The NAACP became the movement's legal engine for the next half century, building the litigation strategy through its Legal Defense Fund that produced Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and challenged segregation case by case for decades before mass protest became the primary tactic.
How we know
The Library of Congress's NAACP founding exhibit reproduces the original 1909 "Call" document and correspondence between founders, including Walling's letter describing his and his wife's investigation of the Springfield riot.
Sources
- Library of Congress. Founding and Early Years · Primary source (author-declared)loc.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- HISTORY (A&E Networks). NAACP: Meaning, Image Awards & Walter White · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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