LOCAL HISTORY

The Trenton Branch NAACP was founded in 1913 by a group of African-American leaders, including the late Rev. John A. White, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. Reverend White and some other founders were members of the Emancipation Proclamation Commission. They were disturbed by the fact that although the Emancipation Proclamation was signed 50 years earlier by President Lincoln, conditions for “colored people” were growing worse in Trenton. The initial goal of the Branch was to make a better place for its colored residents as well as its white residents.

From its early beginnings, the Branch later found itself immersed in the activism of the sixties, along with other NAACP Branches and organizations throughout the country. One of the most memorable events to take place in America was the August 28, 1963 “March on Washington”, the largest demonstration at the time held in our nation’s capital. The NAACP members from Trenton joined with members from Brooklyn to journey by bus to the event and were thrilled to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Unfortunately, the day was marred when the Trenton and Brooklyn members were not allowed to eat in a Maryland restaurant. The white ministers were also refused service due to “Jim Crow” laws that imposed racial segregation in public accommodations.