111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 35 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People (referred to in this resolution as the 
‘‘NAACP’’), originally known as the National Negro 
Committee, was founded in New York City on February 
12, 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, by 
a multiracial group of activists who met in a
•HCON 35 EH 
national conference to discuss the civil and political rights 
of African-Americans; 
Whereas the NAACP was founded by a distinguished group 
of leaders in the struggle for civil and political liberty, in-
cluding Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry 
Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison 
Villard, and William English Walling; 
Whereas the NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights or-
ganization in the United States; 
Whereas the mission of the NAACP is to ensure the political, 
educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all 
persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial dis-
crimination; 
Whereas the NAACP is committed to achieving its goals 
through nonviolence; 
Whereas the NAACP advances its mission through reliance 
upon the press, the petition, the ballot, and the courts, 
and has been persistent in the use of legal and moral per-
suasion, even in the face of overt and violent racial hos-
tility; 
Whereas the NAACP has used political pressure, marches, 
demonstrations, and effective lobbying to serve as the 
voice, as well as the shield, for minority Americans; 
Whereas after years of fighting segregation in public schools, 
the NAACP, under the leadership of Special Counsel 
Thurgood Marshall, won one of its greatest legal victories 
in the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of 
Education, 374 U.S. 483 (1954); 
Whereas in 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested 
and fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated 
bus in Montgomery, Alabama—an act of courage that
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would serve as the catalyst for the largest grassroots civil 
rights movement in the history of the United States; 
Whereas the NAACP was prominent in lobbying for the pas-
sage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fannie Lou Hamer, 
Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Ce´sar E. Cha´vez, Bar-
bara C. Jordan, William C. Vela´squez, and Dr. Hector P. 
Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amend-
ments Act of 2006, and the Fair Housing Act, laws that 
ensured Government protection for legal victories 
achieved; 
Whereas in 2005, the NAACP launched the Disaster Relief 
Fund to help survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, 
Florida, and Alabama to rebuild their lives; 
Whereas in the 110th Congress, the NAACP was prominent 
in lobbying for the passage of H. Res. 826, whose re-
solved clause expresses that: (1) the hanging of nooses is 
a horrible act when used for the purpose of intimidation 
and which under certain circumstances can be criminal; 
(2) this conduct should be investigated thoroughly by 
Federal authorities; and (3) any criminal violations 
should be vigorously prosecuted; and 
Whereas in 2008 the NAACP vigorously supported the pas-
sage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act 
of 2007 (28 U.S.C. 509 note), a law that puts additional 
Federal resources into solving the heinous crimes that oc-
curred in the early days of the civil rights struggle that 
remain unsolved and bringing those who perpetrated such 
crimes to justice: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—
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(1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of the his-
toric founding of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People; and 
(2) honors and praises the National Association 
for the Advancement of Colored People on the occa-
sion of its anniversary for its work to ensure the po-
litical, educational, social, and economic equality of 
all persons. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 12, 
2009. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 35 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Honoring and praising the National Association for 
the Advancement of Colored People on the occa-
sion of its 100th anniversary.