Ella Baker

Elle Baker Civil Rights

In 1930, Ella Baker joined the Young Negroes Cooperative League, which was an organization of young African Americans that believed that Black economic development relied on African Americans working together. Baker became the field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Between 1943 and 1946, Baker was the director of Branches for the NAACP.

Black Freedom Movement

She co-founded the In Friendship organization to raise money to end Jim Crow Laws in the South. Martin Luther King, Jr. reached out to Baker in 1957 and asked her to be the organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Baker made herself indispensable by assisting with the organization and creation of many civil rights groups.

Ella Baker SNCC

On February 1, 1960, four college students sat in a restaurant called Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina. The restaurant was segregated, and African Americans weren't allowed to dine at the counter. This sit-in got media attention and inspired three hundred plus college students to participate in thirteen different states.

These students were to remain non-violent, no matter what white hecklers would say or do. Drinks, condiments, and food were poured on them. Cigarettes were put out on their skin. The students involved in the sit-ins didn't react with violence, and by July of that year, restaurants were desegregated.

Older civil rights activists didn't see the potential in the college students, but Ella Baker stepped up to mentor them. She convinced Martin Luther King, Jr. to donate $800 to fund a conference and invited leaders from the sit-ins. King wanted them to commit to non-violence as a way of life and join the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Baker encouraged them to see the bigger picture.

Fig. 2 - Sit-In, Greensboro, North Carolina

Instead of joining the SCLC, the group decided to become its own organization. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee focused on coordinating college students to protest, and test the boundaries of anti-Jim Crow legislation, and voting campaigns.

The SNCC acknowledges that its foundation was created, partially, thanks to the Ella Baker conference at Shaw University. Baker saw what young college students could do and wanted to help them capitalize on it. The SNCC would go on to become one of the largest organizations in the Civil Rights Movement. It was responsible for countless sit-ins and even the freedom riders.

Voting Rights

Ella Baker believed that voting was a way to advance the civil rights movement. She encouraged African Americans to use their voices through voting. Baker was responsible for many voter campaigns. She also believed in enfranchising people to become self-advocates. Who knows your situation better than yourself? Baker coached people into becoming civil rights activists and taught them how to coach others.

Ella Baker Accomplishments

Ella Baker didn't commit her life to one organization, but to a cause. She believed in the rights of black people, and the way to accomplish that was through the enfranchisement of others. Baker didn't want to be a leader. She understood that she wouldn't be able to have a leadership position in organizations like the SCLC. She was a woman and wasn't a minister.

Instead, Baker focused on giving people the skills that they need to advocate for themselves. She inspired many generations after her and assisted with many organizations and campaigns. Baker died in her sleep on her birthday, December 13, 1986. Her legacy continues through the countless people that she inspired and encouraged, plus the Ella Baker Center, which continues to promote and campaign for Baker's beliefs and goals.