LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring the Utica/Oneida County Branch upon the
occasion of celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and pay
tribute to those enduring organizations which devote their purposeful
energies to improving the quality and dignity of life of those they
serve, to preserving their heritage, and to fostering pride among them;
and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor the
Utica/Oneida County Branch upon the occasion of celebrating the 100th
Anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People; and
WHEREAS, On February 13, 2009, the Utica/Oneida County Branch will
observe the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the National Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Colored People with a semi-formal affair at
Harts Hill Inn; and
WHEREAS, The event, "A Centennial Celebration" will feature a tribute
to local trailblazers who were inspired by the mission of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People; there will also be
exhibits featuring highlights of the Utica/Oneida County Branch since it
was chartered in the early 1960s; and
WHEREAS, The oldest and largest civil rights organization, the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded
in 1909 in New York City by a group of black and white citizens commit-
ted to improving the quality of life for African-Americans; and
WHEREAS, Among the early leaders of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People was W.E.B. DuBois, who helped establish
the Niagara Movement in 1905; other early members included: Ida B.
Wells, Archibald Grimke, Henry Moskowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald
Garrison Villard and William English Walling; and
WHEREAS, In its early years, the National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People concentrated on using the courts to overturn the
Jim Crow statutes that legalized racial discrimination; and
WHEREAS, Later, civil suits became the pattern in modern civil rights
litigation and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People's Legal Department, headed by Charles Hamilton Houston and Thur-
good Marshall, undertook a campaign to bring about the reversal of the
"separate but equal" doctrine, culminating in the unanimous Brown v.
Board of Education that held that state-sponsored segregation of elemen-
tary schools was unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, Bolstered by that victory, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People pushed for full desegregation throughout
the South, highlighted by a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955
to protest segregation on the city's buses when two-thirds of the riders
were black; and
WHEREAS, During the mid-1960s, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People was an active part of the Civil Rights
Movement, helping to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Free-
dom, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a
Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial; and
WHEREAS, That fall, President John F. Kennedy sent a civil rights bill
to Congress before he was assassinated, and his successor, President
Lyndon B. Johnson, passed a civil rights bill aimed at ending racial
discrimination in employment, education and public accommodations in
1964, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided for

protection of the franchise in places where voter turnout was histor-
ically low; and
WHEREAS, Today, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People continues to fulfill its mission to ensure the political,
educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and
to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination; it has over
500,000 members, 1,700 branch chapters and 450 college and youth chap-
ters; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that when organiza-
tions of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our atten-
tion, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens of
the great State of New York; and
WHEREAS, It is with great pleasure that this Legislative Body commends
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for its
excellence and for its commitment and contributions to the community it
has so ably served for the past 100 years; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the Utica/Oneida County Branch upon the occasion of celebrating
the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, fully confident that it will continue
to give positive definition to the profile and disposition of the commu-
nities of this great State and Nation; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Sam Jones, Jr., President of the Utica/Oneida County Branch
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.