L3301

Black Heritage

Roy Wilkins - Civil Rights Leader

Collins Cover Announcement 

Roy Willins

Black Heritage Series

Wilkins graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1923 with a major in sociology and a minor in journalism. He first worked as a writer and managing editor for the Kansas City Call, but, after joining the NAACP in 1931, he succeeded W.E.B. Du Bois as the editor of the organization's magazine — Crisis.

He played significant roles in numerous historic Civil Rights events such as the 1954 "Brown vs. Board of Education" public school decision and the 1963 Washington, D.C. event where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous "I have a Dream" speech.

Under Wilkins' leadership, the NAACP campaigned for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. He was respected for his firm dedication to social reform and his principles of nonviolence.

Roy Wilkins was born August 30, 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri — the grandson of a slave. In 1969 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. I am pleased to offer my li'DC honoring Roy Wilkins. Collins Item #L3301 - $12.25.