Two NAACP Founder To Be Honored At New National Monument

Two of the principal founders of the NAACP, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Mary White Ovington, will be among the Americans whose life work will be immortalized in bronze and granite as part of a new national monument in Washington, D.C., the “Extra Mile – Points of Light Volunteer Pathway.” DuBois and Ovington are two of only 20 honorees whose commemorative medallions will be unveiled on October 14 in a ceremony led by former President George Bush, political commentator Cokie Roberts and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams. DuBois and Ovington will be recognized for the role they played in founding the NAACP in 1909. The new monument, an initiative of the Points of Light Foundation, tells the stories of great Americans, who through their caring and personal sacrifice translated their dreams into great movements for enduring change in America. The monument required both Congressional and District of Columbia government approval. It is made possible because of major support by KPMG Foundation. DuBois joined with Ovington and 59 other prominent Americans to form the NAACP, the nation’s largest civil rights organization. Both Ovington and DuBois played crucial roles in the early years of the NAACP, helping guide its policies and programs. DuBois was the first editor of the NAACP’s Crisis magazine. The medallions, three and a half feet in diameter, will be laid into the sidewalks in an area adjacent to the White House. Before co-founding the NAACP, Dubois led the Niagara Movement, the forerunner of the NAACP. When the Niagara Movement dissolved, most of its members helped form the NAACP. DuBois was the first African American to receive a doctorate degree from Harvard University in 1895. He died in 1963 in his adopted West African home in Ghana. Ovington was one of several white reformers who joined blacks in founding the NAACP in 1909. She held a variety of positions in the Association, including chairperson (1919-32) and treasurer (1932-47). Her autobiography, The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1947), provides a popular history of the NAACP. She also wrote Portraits in Color (1927), a collection of short biographies of black leaders, several children’s books and a novel. Ovington died on July 15, 1951, in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts. The Extra Mile is unique among Washington monuments and memorials because it honors well-known individuals as well as far less celebrated men and women whose legacies represent remarkable social achievements. “We are thrilled to see this monument become a reality and to recognize the contributions of such heroic Americans as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Mary White Ovington,” said Robert Goodwin, president and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation. “Their legacy epitomizes the spirit of service in America and provides an inspiring example of how we all have the ability to go the extra mile for our fellow citizens.” Other Extra Mile honorees include Martin Luther King, Jr., Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Clara Barton, Cesar Chavez and Frederick Douglass.