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DuBois, William Edward Burghardt (1868-1963)
W.E.B. DuBois was a famous African American scholar, writer, historian, sociologist, and Civil Rights Activist. He was one of the founding members of the NAACP. He was the son of Mary Silvina Burghardt and Alfred DuBois. From 1892 to 1894 he traveled through Germany and became influenced by the historical work of Albert Bushnell Hart and the Philosophical work of William James. He focused heavily on history and sociology, publishing numerous articles. DuBois believed that African Americans should embrace their African heritage while also contributing to American society. DuBois also believed in Pan-Africanism.
DuBois along with other African American leaders founded the Niagara Movement in 1904 which militantly advocated for full civil and political rights for blacks. The movement only succeeded in 1909, when the NAACP was founded after rioting in August of 1908 in Springfield, Illinois caused a biracial conference over concerns of violence against blacks. DuBois also finally achieved his desire for a journal as he became the editor of The Crisis. World War I caused a shift in DuBois' beliefs. He became involved in peace work. He also supported the use of Marxism to fight against racial discrimination through economic programs and institutions, which caused him to become at odds with the NAACP president. He resigned from the organization but returned in 1944. He again became at odds with the organization as he supported socialist organizations and the Progressive Party during the rise of anti-communism.
Throughout the rest of his life, he was a member of peace movements and was continually interacting with leftist and communist party organizations. In October 1961, he officially joined the American Communist Party. His support of communism put him at odds with the American government and legal system and was restricted from travel for several years. When it was lifted in 1958 and after traveling throughout communist countries in Eastern Europe and Asia he lived the rest of his life in Ghana. He met Nina Gomer, a student at Wilberforce University where he taught for two years, and married her in 1896. In 1950, he married Shirley Graham after his first wife passed away. She had a child from a previous relationship, David, who took on the DuBois name.Tags Socialism -
Arnold Brown (1932-?)
Arnold Brown was born on April 12, 1932, in Englewood, Brown's family had deep roots in New Jersey and Englewood. Brown grew up in the 4th ward and attended Lincoln Elementary and Dwight Morrow High School. Brown graduated from Bowling Green State University and received his law degree in 1957 from Rutgers University. He practiced law from 1957 to 1986.
Brown became a key figure in the Civil Rights movement in Englewood as a leader of the NAACP and Urban League. He also founded the Du Bois Book Center, which focuses on African American Studies.
In 1965, Brown became the first African American elected to the state legislature from Bergen County. In the 1980s and 1990s, Brown became a prominent historian of African American history in Bergen County.
He married Lydia Barbara White in 1955. After her death, Brown married Gwendolyn Wertby. He has four children, Crystal L., Beverly M. Brown-Fitzhugh, Dale E. Brown-Davis, and Arnold E. -
Brooklyn Boys' Work Council
The Brooklyn Boys' Work Council was an organization that worked to help boys direct their future toward "the proper channels." The organization connected organizations that worked with young men such as city churches. Some of the organization's efforts went toward goals, such as helping boys gain an education. -
Davis, John Warren (1888-1980)
John Warren Davis was an educator and civil rights leader. He was president of West Virginia State University from 1919 to 1953. While in this position, Davis led the college to become fully accredited, making the institution one of the four black colleges and the first public college in West Virginia to become accredited. He also created the State 4-H Camp, the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and the Army Specialized Training Program.
Davis was also one of the founders of the first NAACP chapter in Atlanta, Georgia. He also established the NAACP's legal defense fund to desegregate colleges and provide black students with scholarships. He was also involved with the National Urban League and was the president of the Englewood Chapter. Other organizations he was involved with included the National Advisory Committee on Education of Negros, the National Advisory Committee on Education, the National Science Board, the National Science Foundation, and the National Education Association. He commonly hosted civil rights leaders in his home along with his wife, Ethel.
He was married Bessie Rucker Davis in 1916 until she died in 1931. He married Ethel McGhee in 1932. He had three children, Constance Davis Welch, Dorothy Davis McDaniel, and Caroline Davis Gleiter. -
Englewood Movement
The Englewood Movement was organized in 1962. The movement protested racial discrimination. A major focus was trying to integrate the school system. Paul Zuber was a driving force behind its organization. -
Farrar, Winifred Charlotte Goings (1932-2017)
Winifred Charlotte Farrar was a civil rights activist in Teaneck, New Jersey. She was a member of the Bergen County CORE and the Bergen County Chapter of the Rainbow Coalition. She married Alfred Farrar. -
Hinton, Charles Burture (1877-1962)
Charles B. Hinton was a real estate broker involved in politics. He was one of the founders of the Bergen Branch of the National Urban League. He was also elected as a county committee member for the Fourth Ward. He married Elizabeth Sears. He had two children, Theodore and Carmen E. Pawley. -
King, Martin Luther Jr. (1929-1968)
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and a prominent leader of the civil rights movement. King's leadership in the movement began in December of 1955 and lasted until he was assassinated in April 1968. King is famous for his nonviolent resistance and protests. Some of his notable protests were the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Mongomery Marches. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and "I Have A Dream" are the two well-known articles and speeches from King. He was the youngest man awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
He married Coretta Scott in 1953. He had four children, Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice. -
Lacey, Shirley (1924-2012)
Shirley Lacy was a politician and Englewood councilwoman. She graduated from New York University. Lacy was active in the Civil Rights Movement. She acted as the director of the state American Civil Liberties Union and the leadership training for the Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality Inc. (SEDFRE). Lacy was elected to the Englewood Council in 1977. She was also a Bergen County Overall Economic Development program committee member.
She married Reginald Lewis Lacy. She had two daughters, Deirdre Gaskin and Celeste Lacy Davis. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an interracial human rights organization. The mission of the organization was to abolish segregation and discrimination. It was founded in 1909 by a group of people including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida Bell, Wells-Barnett, and Mary Ovington. It gained traction due to the 1908 Springfield Race Riots in Illinois. Some founding members were involved with the Niagara Movement led by DuBois.
Some of the most notable actions of the movement were its activism in Supreme Court cases that fought against Jim Crow Laws and Lynching in the 1910s and 1920s. The creation of the NAACP Defense and Education Fund in 1939 which litigated the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ending racial segregation in schools. They also won the 1946 Morgan v. Virginia, which ended segregation for interstate travel. The organization was extremely active and crucial during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
The organization remains one of the oldest and most influential multiracial institutions. It continues to recognize and fight for political, educational, social, and economic rights and the elimination of race-based discrimination.