Niagara Movement

Events

The Niagara Movement was founded by W. E. B. Du Bois, William Monroe Trotter, and Mary Burnett Talber. When the Niagara Movement began, fewer than one black man in ten could vote.

July 1905

Nevertheless, Du Bois tried to broaden the movement’s base and increase its support through a weekly publication, "The Moon Illustrated", which ceased publication after only a year.

1906

Another periodical, The Horizon: A Journal of the Color Line, partially subsidized by Du Bois, was published monthly

1907

Believing the Movement to be "practically dead", Booker T. Washington also prepared an obituary of the organization for the New York Age to publish.

1908

Less than fifty people showed up at the 1908 meeting, held at Oberlin College in Ohio.

1908

The 1908 Springfield Race Riot spurred white reformers into action

1908

Descendants of white abolitionists called for concerted action for social justice by black and white leaders of all philosophical views.

Feb 1909

When The Horizon: A Journal of the Color Line was folded into the NAACP’s The Crisis, which has appeared monthly ever since.

November 1910

Booker T. Washington died

Nov 1915

Washington promised to send a representative but never did, and he secretly opposed the new organization, causing other black leaders to withhold support.

Dec 1915