On this date in 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois and a group of like-minded African American activists founded the Niagara Movement. This was a significant civil rights organization that aimed to challenge the prevailing segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S. The movement advocated for political, economic, and social equality, as well as the protection of civil rights for Black Americans.

The Niagara Movement was an important precursor to the later formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Led by prominent figures like W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter, the movement was a direct response to the prevailing racial discrimination and the limitations of the accommodationist approach advocated by figures like Booker T. Washington. The delegates gathered near Niagara Falls from 14 states to call for full civil rights, the abolition of racial segregation, and the demand for political, educational, voting rights, legal justice, and social equality for African Americans. The movement’s focus on equal rights and its stand against racial injustice were revolutionary, pushing back against the more gradualist approaches of the time and calling for immediate action toward racial equality.

Du Bois was a key figure in the movement, and his leadership and ideas greatly influenced the direction of civil rights advocacy in the early 20th century.