Negro Organization Society

Last updated

Negro Organization Society
Negro Organization Society of Virginia
AbbreviationNOS
Formation1912
Founder Robert Russa Moton
Dissolved1950s
HeadquartersRichmond, Virginia, U.S.
Parent organization
 Hampton Institute (now Hampton University)
Affiliations Hampton Negro Conference

Negro Organization Society (NOS), also known as the Negro Organization Society of Virginia, was an African American advocacy association and learned society in Virginia, founded in 1912 at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) by Robert Russa Moton. [1] It sought to build and improve schools for black students, and improve the welfare of black citizens. Its motto was, "Better Schools, Better Health, Better Homes, Better Farms". [1]

Contents

History

Founded in 1912, the Negro Organization Society was an outgrowth of the annual interracial Hampton Negro Conference (1895–1912) hosted by the Hampton Institute and brought together Black leaders, particularly throughout the American South, to promote and advertise the progress of Black Americans. The group's membership was entirely Black, but made interracial support one of its primary goals. [2]

Speakers at its 1914 conference held in Richmond, Virginia on November 6 and 7, 1913 which included Booker T. Washington, businesswoman Maggie L. Walker, Virginia governor William Hodges Mann, and Richmond mayor George Ainslie. [3] Washington spoke about progress being made in Virginia, the state's leadership, and the work of the group. [4]

Virginia Commonwealth University has its programme from the 12th annual session held in 1924. [5] In 1924, the Negro Organization Society also worked in intensification of the campaign against tuberculosis within Black communities, which were more greatly affected by the disease. [6]

By the 1950s, the organization dissolved. [1]

Notable members

References

  1. 1 2 3 McClure, Phyllis (December 7, 2020). "Negro Organization Society". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities.
  2. ↑ Brooks, Clayton McClure (2017). The Uplift Generation: Cooperation across the Color Line in Early Twentieth-Century Virginia. New York: University of Virginia Press. p. 43. ISBN   9780813939506.
  3. ↑ "Negro Organization Society Motto, Special Collections, University of Virginia". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities.
  4. 1 2 3 "Negro Progress in Virginia" (PDF). Jackson Davis Collection of African American Educational Photographs, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.
  5. ↑ "Negro Organization Society. Programme 12, 13, 14 November 1924. Fredericksburg, Va". M 9 Box 81 Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries. December 2, 1924.
  6. ↑ "Negro Organization Society to Aid in Tuberculosis Drive". Richmond Planet. November 15, 1924. p. 1. Retrieved May 5, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "India Hamilton (ca. 1879–1950)". Virginia Changemakers.
  8. ↑ "Mrs. Ora Brown Stokes Discusses Work Of Natl. Woman's Christian Temperance Union". The New York Age . October 20, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved May 5, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
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