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Title: "An Arm of God": The Early History of the NAACP in Charleston, West Virginia, 1917-1925

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: In 1922, T. Edward Hill, the director of the West Virginia Bureau of Negro Welfare and Statistics, described his home state as a place where, "the races live side by side, work side by side, co-operate for community uplift and show a spirit of fairness and tolerance unsurpassed anywhere and equaled in but few places."1 Hill's writings are contradicted by ongoing events in the state capital during the years following World War I. During these years, local blacks in Charleston formed one of the most active early branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the nation, under the leadership of a new arrival, the Reverend Mordecai Wyatt Johnson. Their actions revealed the fault lines of race relations in the state capital and the willingness of local blacks to challenge discrimination in their city and state.

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Authors: Edge, Thomas J.

Periodical (Full): West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studeis

Issue: 2

Volume: 7

Pages: 1-32

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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