In 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois, with William Trotter and 27 other Black leaders, met on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls after being refused service in the United States. They called their organization the Niagara Movement and issued a bold Declaration of Principles that demanded voting rights, equal protection under the law, quality education, and an end to racial violence. Three years later, in 1908, they gathered at Harpers Ferry, on the campus of Storer College, and made a pilgrimage to the site of John Brown’s raid. They stood on that ground to honor his sacrifice and declare that the struggle for freedom was not over. The Niagara Movement was short-lived, but its vision endured. In 1909, many of its members helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP. Those same uncompromising ideals of social justice and equality continue to drive the movement endures to this very day.
The Joy Trip Project celebrates American history with the stories remarkable features of our past that are too often forgotten. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of men and women who helped to shape the progress of our nation.
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