The Niagara Movement
The Niagara Movement, a black civil rights organization, was created during the same time African Americans were starting to seek higher education. Founded in 1905 by W. E. B. Du Bois, it insists that blacks should seek a liberal arts education so the African-American community will have well-educated leaders. Niagara Falls influenced the name since it was close to where the first meeting took place.
A group led by 4 men, including Du Bois, held a three day meeting from July 11-13, 1905, at the Fort Erie Hotel to discuss civil liberties, an end to racial discrimination, and recognition of human brotherhood. Twenty-nine out of the fifty-nine men invited came to the meeting. The group met on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Although there are many stories as to why the meeting was held in Canada, the most-occurring tale is that they wanted to find a quiet and out of the way location.
During the same year the Niagara Movement published a Declaration of Principles. It recognized the progress Negros have made and listed sever concerns, such as suffrage for women, civil liberty, equal economic opportunities and access to education, and decent housing and neighborhoods. It also demanded equal justice in the American court system, like removing discrimination for jury selection, equal punishments and efforts at reformation, and fair treatment of black soldiers by rewarding them with promotions. It also forced the nation to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment (prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude), Fourteenth Amendment (allow blacks to be U.S. citizens by overruling the Dred Scott vs. Stanford decision), and Fifteenth Amendment (prohibits not leting a citizen vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude).
The second meeting was held at the Storer College campus in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The meeting started on August 15, 1906, and lasted three days. The men discussed how to secure civil rights for African Americans, and Du Bois described the meeting as “one of the greatest meetings that American Negroes ever held.” After the meetings the Niagara Movement split into committees with different chapters in twenty-one states within two months. By the end of the year it had reached 170 members.
A lack of funding and leadership within the Niagara Movement caused great suffering to the organization. After the Springfield Race Riot of 1908 they accepted into the group their first white member. By 1910 the group started to officially fall apart. The remaining members joined white liberals and formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1911.
I'm glad I picked this topic because I'm always interested in the things African Americans did to have equality between themselves and whites. When I first read about it in the book I assumed it was going to be all about their fight for education, but after researching further I clearly found out it wasn't. My first guess when I read about the first meeting being held in Canada was that it was the only place they wouldn't get arrested or something, but it makes sense that it was to be in a quiet place. I was very into reading about their Declaration of Principles. While reading it I was very proud/happy that they created their own document just to show their success and demand rights they should already have. That really shows they were serious about what they needed. It's sad that the Niagara Movement only lasted a few years, I'm sure if they would have been better organized and had more funds they could have created a lot more progress in the area of equal rights for African Americans.
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