Final answer:
The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909, building upon the foundation of the Niagara Movement led by W.E.B. Du Bois. It aimed to secure political, economic, and social equality for African Americans and to counter racial injustices following Reconstruction. Du Bois played an essential role as the director of publications, using The Crisis journal to advocate for civil rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909, by a diverse group of progressive African-Americans and allies, including influential figures like W.E.B. Du Bois. This organization was established in the aftermath of the Niagara Movement, an earlier civil rights effort Du Bois helped lead in 1905. The NAACP emerged as a response to the persistent racial injustices that followed the end of Reconstruction, particularly the lynching and segregation of African Americans, and as a rejection of Booker T. Washington's more conciliatory Atlanta Compromise.
The Niagara Movement was significant in laying the groundwork for the NAACP. At their meetings, the participants of the Niagara Movement, including Du Bois, demanded immediate political, economic, and social equality for African Americans, which later became central tenets of the NAACP's work. Despite internal conflicts and the debate over the role of women in the movement, the urgency of their demands resonated and helped forge the path for the formation of the NAACP.
W.E.B. Du Bois served as the director of publications for the NAACP and through his editorship of the journal The Crisis, he became a prominent voice for civil rights advocacy during the Progressive Era and World War I. The NAACP distinguished itself from other organizations with its broad, diverse, and nationwide membership and its strategic legal and political campaigns aimed at defending the rights of minority groups in the United States.