The Niagara Movement ( NM ) was a civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter . The Niagara Movement was organized to oppose racial segregation and disenfranchisement . Its members felt "unmanly" the policy of accommodation and conciliation, without voting rights, promoted by Booker T. Washington . It was named for the "mighty current" of change the group wanted to effect and took Niagara Falls as its symbol. The group did not meet in Niagara Falls, New York , but planned its first conference for nearby Buffalo (at the last minute, to avoid disruptions, moved across the Niagara River to Fort Erie, Ontario , Canada). The Niagara Movement was the immediate predecessor of the NAACP .
48-594: William Ferris may refer to: William H. Ferris (1874–1941), African American journalist and author William R. Ferris (born 1942), folklorist and scholar of the U.S. South, former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities William Ferris (politician) (1855–1917), Australian politician Bill Ferris (born 1942), Australian philanthropist and entrepreneur [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
96-578: A Boston activist who in 1901 founded the Boston Guardian newspaper as a platform for radical activism. In 1902 and 1903 groups of activists sought to gain a larger voice in the debate at the conventions of the National Afro-American Council, but they were marginalized because the conventions were dominated by Washington supporters (also known as Bookerites). Trotter in July 1903 orchestrated
144-507: A confrontation with Washington in Boston , a stronghold of activism, that resulted in a minor melee and the arrest of Trotter and others; the event garnered national headlines. In January 1904, Washington, with funding assistance from white philanthropist Andrew Carnegie , organized a meeting in New York to unite African American and civil rights spokesmen. Trotter was not invited, but Du Bois and
192-403: A few other activists were. Du Bois was sympathetic to the activist cause and suspicious of Washington's motives; he noted that the number of activists invited was small relative to the number of Bookerites. The meeting laid the foundation for a committee to include both Washington and Du Bois, but it quickly fractured. Du Bois resigned in July 1905. By this time, both Du Bois and Trotter recognized
240-549: A kind of indentured servitude to whites. This resulted in "virtual slavery". The Niagara Movement wanted all African Americans in the South to have the ability to "earn a decent living". On the subject of education, the authors declared that not only should it be free, but it should also be made compulsory. Higher education, they declared, should be governed independently of class or race, and they demanded action to be taken to improve "high school facilities." This they emphasized: "either
288-624: A lecturer at white churches. He went on to write The African Abroad; or his Evolution in Western Civilization: Tracing his development under Caucasian Milieus in 1913. Ferris held positions as Assistant President General of the UNIA-ACL and Associate Editor of the Negro World . He was a participant in the March 5, 1897, meeting to celebrate the memory of Frederick Douglass which founded
336-644: A notable number of lawyers. At the last minute, to avoid disruption, the meeting was moved to the Erie Beach Hotel in Fort Erie, Ontario , Canada, across the Niagara River from Buffalo . The organization founded at this meeting chose Du Bois as its general secretary and Cincinnati lawyer George H. Jackson as treasurer. It set up committees to oversee progress on the organization's goals. State chapters would advance local agendas and disseminate information about
384-476: A number of newspapers from 1902 to 1903. He continued teaching during the years 1903–1905 at Henderson Normal School and Kittrell College in North Carolina . Ferris became pastor of Christ Congregational Church from 1904 to 1905. In 1908 he wrote a book entitled Typical Negro Traits . From 1910 to 1912, he was given charge of the "colored" missions of the A.M.E. Zion Church of Lowell and Salem, Massachusetts, as
432-469: A production of The Clansman . During the early months of 1906 friction began to develop between Du Bois and Trotter over the admission of women to the organization. Du Bois supported the idea, and Trotter opposed it, but eventually relented, and the matter was smoothed over during the 1906 meeting. Their division became more significant when Trotter split with longtime supporter and Movement member Clement Morgan over Massachusetts politics and control of
480-460: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages William H. Ferris William Henry Ferris (July 20, 1874 – August 23, 1941) was an American author, minister , and scholar. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut , the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father's birth. His father joined
528-481: The American Negro Academy led by Alexander Crummell . Over the coming decades, Ferris remained active among the scholars, editors, and activists of this first major African American learned society, refuting racist scholarship, promoting black claims to individual, social, and political equality, and studying the history and sociology of African American life. Ferris worked with William Monroe Trotter and
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#1732863259066576-559: The Atlanta Compromise . He believed that Southern African-Americans should not agitate for political rights (such as exercising the right to vote or having equal treatment under the law) as long as they were provided economic opportunities and basic rights of due process . He believed they needed to focus on education and work, to raise their race. Washington politically dominated the National Afro-American Council ,
624-722: The Boston Guardian , W. E. B. Du Bois and the Niagara Movement , and John Edward Bruce and the Negro Society for Historical Research . At the suggestion of Trotter, Ferris came to Washington in January 1903 and spoke in opposition to the more conservative approach to black rights of Booker T. Washington in front of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society on January 6, 1903. As a reply, Richard W. Thompson spoke in front of
672-856: The Reconstruction Era that followed the American Civil War , African Americans had an unprecedented level of civil freedom and civic participation. In the South, for the first time the former slaves could vote, hold public office, and contract for their labor. With the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, their freedoms began to narrow. From 1890 to 1908, all the Southern states ratified new constitutions or laws that disenfranchised most blacks and significantly restricted their political and civil rights. After Democrats regained control of state legislatures they passed laws imposing legal racial segregation in public facilities. These policies were entrenched after
720-629: The United States Supreme Court in 1896 ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that laws requiring " separate but equal " facilities were constitutional. The separate facilities for African Americans were often shabby, or they did not exist at all. The most prominent African-American spokesman during the 1890s was Booker T. Washington , leader of Alabama 's Tuskegee Institute . In an 1895 speech in Atlanta, Georgia , Washington discussed what became known as
768-523: The Bookerite Washington Bee claimed only about 100 in attendance. The convention published an "Address to the World" in which it called on African-Americans not to vote for Republican Party candidates in the 1908 presidential election , citing President Theodore Roosevelt 's support for Jim Crow laws . William Monroe Trotter's departure after the 1907 meeting had a serious negative impact on
816-587: The Movement's formation, and agreed to suppress news of it in the black press. They acquired supporters in Archibald Grimké and Kelly Miller, two moderates who had been friendly with Trotter, but had not been invited by Du Bois to the convention (Grimké was hired by Fortune's New York Age ). The Age editorialized that the Movement was little more than an attempt to tear down the house that Washington had labored to set up. A Boston supporter of Washington convinced
864-503: The Oberlin meeting received almost no coverage. Believing the Movement to be "practically dead", Washington also prepared an obituary of the organization for the New York Age to publish. In 1909, chapter activities continued to dwindle, membership dropped, and the 1910 annual meeting (held at Sea Isle City, New Jersey ) was a small affair that again received no significant press. It was
912-935: The Second Baptist Lyceum on January 25 in support of Washington. In 1999, Jacqueline M. Moore argued that Thompson's paper failed to hold his ground against Ferris, who was present at the talk. The Second Baptist Lyceum met again on February 3 to hear a paper by Jesse Lawson in favor of Washington. In support of Washington were Robert H. Terrell , Bishop Alexander Walters , Dr. William Bruce Evans, J. H. Ewing, and Thompson, and those against were Ferris, Armond W. Scott, Lafayette M. Hershaw , T. M. Dent, Shelby James Davidson, and Mrs. Ida D. Bailey . Terrell, Evans, Lawson, and Thompson all owed positions or favors to Washington's influence. John C. Dancy , George H. White , Mrs. Anna Evans Murray wife of Daniel Murray, Reuben S. Smith, Kelly Miller , Prof. Lewis Baxter Moore, and John P. Green were neutral. This controversy continued into
960-551: The Union Army voluntarily at the age of 17. His mother's father escaped from captivity on plantation and later purchased the freedom of his wife and children. A graduate of Yale University (1895) with a BA degree, Ferris subsequently took on the role of writer and lecturer. He was a Harvard Divinity School student from 1897 to 1899, graduating from Harvard with an MA in journalism in 1900. After teaching at Tallahassee State College , Florida Baptist College (1900–01), he worked for
1008-538: The United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States." They demanded for judges to be selected independently of their race, and for convicted criminals, white or black, to be given equal punishments for their respective crimes. In his address to the nation, W. E. B. Du Bois stated, "We are not more lawless than the white race; we [are] more often arrested, convicted and mobbed. We want justice, even for criminals and outlaws." He called for
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#17328632590661056-481: The abolition of the convict lease system. Established after the Civil War before southern states built prisons, convicts were leased out to work as cheap laborers for "railway contractors, mining companies and those who farm large plantations." Southern states had passed laws targeting blacks and leasing them out to pay off fines or fees they could not manage. The system continued, earning money for local jurisdictions and
1104-444: The already announced affirmation that such protest against outright injustice would not cease until such discrimination did. Secondly, Du Bois and Trotter stated the irrationality of discriminating based on one's "physical peculiarities", whether it be place of birth or color of skin. Perhaps one's ignorance, or immorality, poverty or diseases are legitimate excuses, but not the matters over which individuals have no control. Near its end,
1152-673: The document condemns the Jim Crow laws, the rejection of blacks for enlistment in the Navy and by the military academies, the non-enforcement of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments protecting the rights of blacks, and the "unchristian" behaviors of churches that segregate and show prejudice to their black brothers. The Declaration thanked those who "stand for equality" and the advancement of this cause. Booker T. Washington and his supporters tried to discourage growth of this rival movement. Washington, Thomas Fortune , and Charles Anderson met after learning of
1200-470: The end of 1905 that a number of black publications had published accounts of the Movement's activities, and it received further publicity as a consequence of Bookerite press attacks against it. Washington also attacked the Constitution League , a multi-racial civil rights group that was also opposed to his accommodationist policies. The Niagara Movement made common cause with this organization. After
1248-517: The first nationwide African-American civil rights organization. By the turn of the 20th century, other activists within the African-American community began demanding a challenge to racist government policies and higher goals for their people than those advocated by Washington. They believed that Washington was "accommodationist". Opponents included Northerner W. E. B. Du Bois , then a professor at Atlanta University , and William Monroe Trotter ,
1296-557: The ground, with the only substance being a meeting between the Movement's Washington, DC chapter and members of the Bookerite National Afro-American Council . The Movement, in conjunction with the Constitution League (which took Du Bois on as a director), began organizing legal challenges to segregationist laws in early 1907. For an organization with a limited budget, this was an expensive proposition:
1344-439: The guests. Convention attendees discussed how to secure civil rights for African Americans, and the meeting was later described by Du Bois as "one of the greatest meetings that American Negroes ever held." Attendees walked from Storer College to the nearby Murphy Family farm, relocation site of the historic fort where John Brown's quest to end slavery reached its bloody climax. Once there, they removed their shoes and socks to honor
1392-629: The hallowed ground and participated in a ceremony of remembrance. Several of the organization's chapters made substantive contributions to the advance of civil rights in 1906. The Massachusetts chapter successfully lobbied against state legislation for the segregation of railroad cars, but was unable to stop the state from helping to fund the Jamestown Exposition , a commemoration of the founding of racially motivated Jamestown, Virginia , in which Virginia sought to limit black admission. The Illinois chapter convinced Chicago theater critics to ignore
1440-433: The initial meeting, delegates returned to their home territories to establish local chapters. By mid-September 1905, they had established chapters in 21 states, and the organization had 170 members by year's end. Du Bois founded a magazine, The Moon , in an attempt to establish an official mouthpiece for the organization. Due to lack of funding, it failed after a few months of publication. A second publication, The Horizon ,
1488-525: The local Movement chapter, with Du Bois siding with the latter. When the Movement met in Boston in 1907 Du Bois not only admitted Grimké and Miller to the organization, he reappointed Morgan to a leading position in the organization. Further attempts to heal the rift failed, and Trotter then resigned from the Movement. In 1906 there were several proposals floated in the black press that the Movement be merged with other organizations. None of these proposals got off
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1536-559: The majority of the African-American population, especially in the South. Booker T. Washington, at the height of the Movement's activities in 1905 and 1906, spoke to large and approving crowds across much of the country. The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot hurt Washington's popularity, giving the Niagarans fuel for their attacks on him. However, given that Washington and the Niagarans agreed on strategy (opposition to Jim Crow laws and support of equal protection and civil rights) but disagreed on tactics,
1584-543: The need for a well-organized anti-Washington activist group. Along with Du Bois and Trotter, Fredrick McGhee of St. Paul, Minnesota , and Charles Edwin Bentley of Chicago also recognized the need for a national activist group. The foursome organized a conference to be held July 11–13, 1905, in Buffalo, New York . 59 carefully selected anti-Bookerites were invited to attend; 29 showed up, including prominent community leaders and
1632-544: The organization and its goals. Its name was chosen to reflect the site of its first meeting and to be representative of a "mighty current" of change its leaders sought to bring about. Seventeen founders were each appointed as state secretary to individually represent 17 of the states of the union: The 29 founders who traveled to the inaugural meeting of the Niagara Movement came from 14 states, and became known as "The Original Twenty-nine": The First Niagara Conference
1680-736: The organization's last meeting. In the wake of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908 , a major race riot in Springfield, Illinois , a number of prominent white civil rights activists called for a major conference on race relations. Held in New York City in early 1909, the conference laid the foundation for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was formally established in 1910. In 1911, Du Bois (who
1728-515: The organization, as did disagreements about which party to support in the 1908 election. Du Bois, with some reluctance, endorsed Democratic Party candidate William Jennings Bryan , but many African-Americans could not bring themselves to break from the Republicans, and William Howard Taft won the election, receiving significant African-American support. The 1908 annual meeting, held in Oberlin, Ohio ,
1776-480: The printer of Trotter's Guardian to withdraw his services, but Trotter managed to continue printing anyway. Prominent white activists, including Francis Jackson Garrison and Oswald Garrison Villard (family of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison , a hero of Trotter), refused to attend Trotter-organized commemorations of their father's birth centennial. They chose a celebration organized by Bookerites. Despite Washington's attempts at suppression, Du Bois reported at
1824-408: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Ferris&oldid=1157594458 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1872-492: The single case they mounted challenging Virginia's railroad segregation law put the organization into debt. Du Bois had sought to return to Harpers Ferry for the 1907 annual meeting, but Storer College refused to grant them permission, claiming the group's presence in 1906 had been followed by financial and political pressure from its supporters to distance itself from them. The 1907 meeting was held in Boston, with conflicting attendance reports. Du Bois claimed 800 attendees, while
1920-428: The state from leasing out prisoners. There was little oversight, and many prisoners were abused and worked to death. Urging a return to the faith of "our fathers," the declaration appealed for every person to be considered equal and free. The declaration also targeted the treatment blacks received from labor unions, often oppressed and not fully protected by their employers nor granted permanent employment. It validated
1968-544: The summer where important meetings in Louisville and Boston saw heated argument which even led to blows and Trotter's and Granville Martin's imprisonment. In 1922, he was working on a volume entitled The African in Western Lands . The African Times and Orient Review published an article by Ferris in which he praised an article previously contained in the same journal by Marcus Garvey . Niagara Movement During
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2016-453: The uplift in home life, the advance in literature and art, and the demonstration of constructive and executive ability in the conduct of great religious, economic and educational institutions." It called for blacks to be granted manhood suffrage, for equal treatment for all American citizens alike. Very specifically, it demanded equal economic opportunities, in the rural districts of the South, where many blacks were trapped by sharecropping in
2064-409: The work of Du Bois and Trotter. The group's philosophy contrasted with the conciliatory approach by Booker T. Washington, who proposed patience over militancy. The declaration defined the group's philosophy and demands: politically, socially and economically. It described the progress made by "Negro-Americans", "particularly the increase of intelligence, the buy-in of property, the checking of crime,
2112-401: Was a much smaller affair, and exposed disunity and apathy within the group at both local and national levels. Du Bois invited Mary White Ovington , a settlement worker and socialist he had met in 1904, to address the organization. She was the only white woman to be so honored. By 1908, Washington and his supporters successfully made serious inroads with the press (both white and black), and
2160-521: Was appointed the NAACP's director of publications) recommended that the remaining membership of the Niagara Movement support the NAACP's activities. William Monroe Trotter attended the 1909 conference, but did not join the NAACP; he instead led other small activist civil rights organizations and continued to publish the Guardian until his death in 1934. The Niagara Movement did not appear to be very popular with
2208-463: Was no conference. To disguise this, it was said that they were refused accommodation in Buffalo. However, no evidence supports this. According to contemporary reports, Buffalo hotels complied with a statewide anti-discrimination law passed in 1895, and in a recent article it is called an "unlikely...legend". The attendees of the inaugural meeting drafted a "Declaration of Principles," primarily
2256-477: Was originally scheduled for Buffalo, New York , but because of threatened disruptions from partisans of the politically powerful Booker T. Washington fled at the last minute to the Erie Beach Hotel in Fort Erie, Ontario , Canada. Du Bois described the meeting as "secret". One Bookerite, Clifford Plummer, traveled to Buffalo to check up on the proceedings, looked around, and "happily" reported back that there
2304-448: Was started in 1907 and survived until 1910. The movement's second meeting, the first to be held on U.S. soil and arguably the movement's high point, took place at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia , the site of abolitionist John Brown 's 1859 raid . The three-day gathering, from August 15 to 18, 1906, took place at the campus of Storer College (now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park ). The Hill Top House Hotel hosted many of
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