Born: 11 April 1865, United States
Died: 15 July 1951
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Mary White Ovington (1865–1951), a social worker and freelance writer, was a principal NAACP founder and officer for almost forty years. Born in Brooklyn, New York, into a wealthy abolitionist family, she became a socialist while a student at Radcliffe College. Ovington befriended W.E.B. Du Bois in 1904, when she was researching her first book, Half a Man (1911), about black Manhattan. In 1906 she covered the Niagara Movement and the Atlanta anti-black riot for the New York Evening Post. Ovington played a crucial role in the NAACP’s evolution. She recruited women into the ranks, mediated disputes, and guided the transition to black leadership. She served as secretary (1911–1912), acting secretary, treasurer, and board chairman.