Ella Josephine Baker

Accomplishments

In January 1957, Baker went to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a conference aimed at developing a new regional organization to build on the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After a second conference in February, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed. This organization was initially planned to be a loosely structured coalition linking church based leaders in civil rights struggles across the South. The group wanted to emphasize nonviolence as a means of bringing about social progress and racial justice for southern blacks. The organization would rely on the southern black church for the base of its support. The strength of the organization rested on the political activities of its local church affiliates. It envisioned itself as the political arm of the black church.The SCLC first stepped on the political scene as an organization at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.

civil rights Movement

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Photograph shows a procession of African Americans carrying signs for equal rights, integrated schools, decent housing, and an end to bias. 28 August 28, 1963. Source.

Baker was instrumental in pulling off this large-scale event which became extremely successful. Her work as one of the organizers for this event demonstrated her ability to straddle organizational lines, deliberately ignoring and minimizing rivalries and battles.The conference's first project was the Crusade for Citizenship, a voter registration campaign. Baker was hired as the first staff person for the new organization. Baker worked closely with southern civil rights activists in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi and was highly respected for her organizing abilities. She helped initiate voter registration campaigns and identify other local grievances. Baker received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1984.