Local NAACP holds gala for organization's anniversary

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009

100 years and counting

Descendants of abolitionists, Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard were among the white liberals who were appalled by the lynchings and violence committed against African Americans.

In answer to a race riot in 1908 in Springfield, Ill., Ovington, Villard and about 60 others — including seven African-Americans — formed a civil rights organization that would advocate for equal rights and opportunities for minorities.

The group — which included civil rights advocate W.E.B. DuBois — met to discuss ways to end the violence, get equal rights for all and even the playing field.

That was Feb. 12, 1909 — the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.

A hundred years later, the NAACP — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — continues the fight. But for one night, a celebration is in order.

The Charles County chapter of the NAACP, founded Sept. 8, 1921, will hold a black-tie gala "We are 100" honoring the past and looking toward the future Oct. 3 at the Waldorf Jaycees center.

"This is a little different," explained executive committee member Em Henry. "We usually have our annual programs where major issues or topics get addressed. But this is a celebration … a way to thank all of our members."

The local branch was founded by the late Luther Stuckey, the son of a former slave.

"He was interested in bettering conditions for everyone. He wanted everyone to have the same rights and opportunities," said Stuckey's daughter, Eva Chesley, in a 2008 interview with the Maryland Independent "It didn't make a difference in color. If a person was wrong, they were wrong. If they were right, then they were right. He wanted everyone to become a success. He was ahead of his time. He was wanting things and seeing them out."

Past NAACP chapter president the late Salome A. Howard of Pomfret, told a story of how she and other members would take action against inequality. The story was caught on tape, part of the massive Thomas and Maxine Headen Collection donated to the College of Southern Maryland's Southern Maryland Studies Center.

"The NAACP really began taking root around 1941 or 1942. … When Freedom Riders came through in the early 1960s, that's when people began to recognize the NAACP in the community, before, everyone took everything for granted.

"Our goals were to break down discrimination in the whole broad spectrum," Howard said on the tape.

In an interview with a reporter in January 2002, Howard and her husband, Herb — a driver for the Freedom Rides of 1961 — a caravan of buses shuttling activists to the South to expose illegal segregation practices — remembered their roles in the civil rights movement as it shaped up in Charles County.

"Changes in employment, restaurants, schools, hotels, even in churches," said Salome Howard of changes the local branch of the NAACP wanted to see.

"[Racism in] Charles County was not as aggressive as some of the other places like Arkansas and Chicago, here it was more subtle. [But] plenty of change needed to be done here."

Howard, who headed the youth council after seeing more and more young people wanting to affect change, said it was the group's enthusiasm that motored the local movement.

It was the teens — membership in the youth council would grow to about 450 — who participated in most of the demonstrations.

"It was the youth that were so active," Howard remembered more than 40 years after the group staged protests and sit-ins during the 1960s. "It was an exciting time and they wanted the challenges."

Much was done, much still needs to be done, which is why Henry, who at 29, is currently one of the youngest members of the branch, continues to go to schools and churches to tell young people of the NAACP.

A generation that hasn't lived in a world without remote controls, cell phones and an African-American president, young people might necessarily understand the hardships that challenged the older generations; they might not appreciate the struggle and fight.

"I think it is frustrating for our older members … that the kids aren't grasping it," said Henry, who joined the NAACP after college at the urging of her brother, Jason. "It's hard for me to imagine … what if? What if the civil rights movement never happened? Would we still be fighting?"

Henry, the great-niece of the late William Diggs (and elementary school namesake) grew up hearing stories from her grandparents, aunts and uncles who were active in the civil rights movement.

She sees the upcoming black-tie gala as a "thank you" to the branch's members who fought and continue to be involved with the grassroots organization founded in 1909 to fight for equal rights for all. The NAACP has grown to become the country's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Six years ago, Salome Howard expressed dismay that young people don't know the history of the civil rights movement and the actions of the dedicated in Charles County.

"Kids don't know that they couldn't just walk into a restaurant and be served or stay overnight at a motel," Howard said.

"We raised hell. We did some wild things and took chances."

staylor@somdnews.com

If you go

The Charles County branch of the NAACP will hold a black-tie gala celebrating the organization's 100th anniversary from 7:30-11 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Waldorf Jaycees center, 3090 Crain Highway, Waldorf.

Tickets are $50 each. No tickets will be sold at the door, but according to Em Henry, a member of the branch's executive committee, tickets are still available.

The evening includes dinner, dancing, silent auction and a presentation of the organization's and chapter's history. For more information, call 301-412-1449 or 301-802-0619, e-mail Rose Short at rosemshort@comcast.net or go to www.ccnaacp.org.