Walter White (1893–1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century, from 1929 until his death. He directed a broad program of legal challenges to
racial segregation and
disfranchisement. Under his leadership, the NAACP oversaw the plans and organizational structure of the fight against public segregation in the United States. He worked with President
Harry S. Truman on desegregating the armed forces after
World War II and gave him a draft of
Executive Order 9981 to implement this. Under White's leadership, the NAACP set up its
Legal Defense Fund, which conducted numerous legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement, and achieved many successes. This photograph of White was taken by
Clara Sipprell around 1950, and is in the collection of the
National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.Photograph credit:
Clara Sipprell; restored by
Adam Cuerden
Walter White (1893–1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century, from 1929 until his death. He directed a broad program of legal challenges to
racial segregation and
disfranchisement. Under his leadership, the NAACP oversaw the plans and organizational structure of the fight against public segregation in the United States. He worked with President
Harry S. Truman on desegregating the armed forces after
World War II and gave him a draft of
Executive Order 9981 to implement this. Under White's leadership, the NAACP set up its
Legal Defense Fund, which conducted numerous legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement, and achieved many successes. This photograph of White was taken by
Clara Sipprell around 1950, and is in the collection of the
National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.Photograph credit:
Clara Sipprell; restored by
Adam Cuerden