1990s: National Conflict within NAACP Overshadows Local Progress
National Conflicts
Written by Celeste Probart. Edited by Jordan Biro Walters, PhD and Elora Agsten, MSLIS.
Nationally, Dr. Benjamin Hooks, the chairperson of the NAACP, was replaced by Reverend Benjamin Chavis Jr. in 1992. Less than a year and a half later, Chavis was asked to step down due to sexual misconduct and improper spending of NAACP funds. Upper members of the NAACP, including Chavis, were accused of allowing gender-based discrimination to occur. In a replacement vote, Myrlie Evers-Williams would narrowly win the vote 30-29 against William Gibson. The NAACP issued two statements denying the sexual misconduct and gender discrimination. Evers-Williams win helped to soften the masculine image of the NAACP. In civil rights activism, Black women’s work often goes under recognized including in the NAACP, since few women held leadership roles.
The NAACP also had financial troubles. The organization obtained approximately $4.7 million in debt from Chavis, although lower numbers have been reported, between $4.5-3 million. Despite these financial challenges, they would recover quickly. This was done by asking local branches, like Wooster/Orrville, to contribute $1,000 each and furloughing 88 employees for two weeks. In 1996, Chairperson Evers-Williams would visit Wooster and speak at the College.
Myrile Evers-Williams speaking, exact date unknown but likely at the swearing in of Kweisi Mfume as the president of NAACP in 1996.
Local Progress
Wooster, on the other hand, had a seamless turnover in leadership. Lawerence Walker was elected president in 1991, replacing Ron Hill. His closeness with his mother, Mary Walker, led him to pursue activism within the community. When he was in junior high, she ran for city council. However, Mary’s name was left off the ballot and had to be written in, a major factor in her loss. Walker remembers this being a turning point in his life, propelling him into activism. Following his mother’s footsteps, he served on the fair housing board for many years. With his service, the housing board saw a marked improvement. When Walker stepped into the role, he handled multiple cases a week. In recent years, the case load has almost completely disappeared.
A Second Baptist Church document shows Lawrence Walker's family tree.
Congregation of Second Baptist Church when Lawrence Walker was a member.
Primarily, Walker's NAACP presidency focused on equal employment opportunities and housing on a local level. Growing up in Wooster, Walker was familiar with complaints in these two areas. In his oral history, he speaks about the difficulty of intervening in workplace discrimination. Strides made against redlining and ​workplace discrimination were able to be taken because of previous work of the national chapter of the NAACP and other civil rights groups. The national NAACP was consumed with rebuilding it's financial difficulties leaving the local chapter unable to turn to it for help.
Reflection on the 1990s
Throughout the 1990s, the local NAACP worked primarily against redlining and employment difficulties. Through various efforts, the fair housing board would eventually decrease the number of housing discrimination cases. On a national level, there was conflict within the organization from poor spending and gender based issues. These issues would get resolved within the decade and a new president, Kweisi Mfume, revitalize the image of the NAACP.
Sources and Further Reading
Primary Sources
Claremont.edu. “Myrlie Evers-Williams Speaking at NAACP Meeting with Kweisi Mfume in Attendance,” 2023. https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/mew/id/69/rec/5.
Editors, Wooster Voice, "The Wooster Voice (Wooster, OH), 1995-11-17" (1995). The Voice: 1991-2000. 129.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/voice1991-2000/129
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Emerge (Rosslyn, United States). “Triumphant Flight: Myrlie Evers-Williams Overcame Doubters, Insults and Slights at the NAACP.” March 1999.
Marable, Manning. “The Black Radical Congress: Revitalizing the Black Freedom Movement.” The Black Scholar 28, no. 1 (1998): 54–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/41068775.
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Cofc.edu. “NAACP Media Alert, Official Statement of Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. - LCDL Catalog Search,” 2016. https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:110239.
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Cofc.edu. “NAACP Media Alert, Official Statement of Dr. William F. Gibson - LCDL Catalog Search,” 2016. https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:110240.
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Page, Clarence. “IMAGE AWARD? THE BATTLE’S NOT OVER FOR NAACP: [NORTH SPORTS FINAL Edition].” PERSPECTIVE. Chicago Tribune (Pre-1997 Fulltext) (Chicago, Ill., United States), February 22, 1995.
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Pittsburgh Post - Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pa., United States). “Chavis’ Chapter: [SOONER Edition].” EDITORIAL. August 24, 1994.
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Sevilla, Graciela, and Guy Gugliotta. “NAACP Sets Fund-Raising Drive to Retire Debt; Goal Is $3.8 Million by Year’s End; Union Files Grievance on Behalf of Furloughed Staff: [FINAL Edition].” A SECTION. The Washington Post (Pre-1997 Fulltext) (Washington, D.C., United States), November 3, 1994.
Walker, Lawrence . Lawrence Walker Oral History Interview - On the History of Wooster, Ohio - June 21, 2023. Interview by Delani Patterson, Bryce Thompson, and Mady Noble, June 21, 2023.
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Secondary Sources
Purnell, Brian, Jeanne Theoharis, and Komozi Woodard. The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North : Segregation and Struggle outside of the South. New York: New York University Press, 2019.