The Colored Citizens Protective League (CCPL) was established in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...

in 1915 to advocate against proposed town ordinances to restrict areas where

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

could live. It went on to become the first rural

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

branch.

History

Founded in 1915 by Joseph Tinner, Edwin B. Henderson and other African American community leaders, the Colored Citizens Protective League was organized to combat racial segregation in Falls Church. Following a law passed in 1912 by the Virginia legislature giving cities and towns the right to racially segregate residents, Falls Church adopted ordinances in 1915 restricting where African American could live and own property. Set to become effective in 1916, the restricted areas included areas where African Americans already lived and owned homes which would require some to relocate. The CCPL protested the ordinance and submitted petitions signed by both African American and white residents, business owners and church leaders. They also sought assistance from

W.E.B. DuBois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

and the NAACP, then a young organization. Eventually the CCPL filed lawsuits but were unsuccessful. They continued their efforts to delay enforcement until such ordinances became unconstitutional due to the 1917

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision in the ''Buchanan v. Warley'' case, ruling states and municipalities could not create segregation districts. In 1918 the CCPL became the first rural NAACP branch, with thirty-five members. Tinner was President and Henderson Secretary. In 1937 the organization became the

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

branch of the NAACP. A handwritten note from the group's 1915 meeting is extant and a historical marker commemorates its history.

References

{{Reflist NAACP African Americans' rights organizations Falls Church, Virginia Organizations established in 1915

History

See also

References