PEORIA MAGAZINE February 2023

S P O T L I G H T

‘THE MOST DYNAMIC BRANCH IN ILLINOIS’ For 123 years, Peoria’s NAACP has been making waves and producing needed change

BY STEVE TARTER PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON

T he Peor ia branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1915. The best explanation for why the organization formed may have appeared in a Peoria Transcript piece in 1914. Headlined “Negroes of Liberty Party Act: Demand Political Recognition,” the bulletin from the Liberty Party, a small political organization at the time, declared that African Americans were being left out of the Peoria economy. “There is not a Negro employed in the court house in Peoria County,” the newspaper piece read. “There is not a Negro policeman walking a beat in Peoria. There is not a Negro fireman in the fire department in Peoria.” Peoria’s African American population was much smaller at that time, with the 1910 census listing 67,000 Peoria residents in total, of which only 2.3% were black, about 1,500 people. It’s also worth noting that it took decades for the vacancies cited in the 1914 article to be addressed, largely due to efforts by groups like the NAACP.

battles I thought we won — involving labor, housing, education — continue to be issues,” he said. “One of the things we do now is write policy with public entities tomake sure minorities have access,” said Hightower. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. You need to voice your opinion.” Hightower recal led when John Gwynn Jr. headed Peoria’s NAACP from 1961 to 1993, a period marked by activism, particularly in the 1960s and ‘70s. “We do it a different way now,” opting for consultation and recommendations instead of marches and sit-ins, said Hightower. “There’s nothing wrong with activism but we try to work behind the scenes,” he said, noting that a present project involves ensuring that minorities get their fair share of construction jobs in the new health department to be constructed by Peoria County. Don Jackson, still active as a Peoria attorney, headed the NAACP chapter in Peoria for more than 20 years, from 1996 through 2016. Without the NAACP, “somuch of what has changed would not have come about,” he said, crediting

Charles Ruff was Peoria's first NAACP president, followed by Birdie West, its first female leader, in 1923. The organization’s early years were focused on supporting national anti-lynching legislation, which incidentally did not become law until 2022. Civil rights and local employment issues have remained NAACP concerns formore than 100 years. TheRev. Marvin Hightower, the pastor at Liberty Church of Peoria, has led Peoria’s NAACP efforts since 2017. Despite progress on many fronts, Hightower said the fight for equality goes on. “I’m surprised to find some

38 FEBRUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE