University of Minnesota Athletics
Black History Month: Roy Wilkins
2/28/2022 8:38:00 AM | Athletics
By Charles Hallman, Minnesota Spokesman Recorder
Before he became a civil rights icon, Roy Wilkins attended the University of Minnesota as a sociology student. Whether his activism roots or quest for civil rights and equity for all was first fostered on the Twin Cities campus is unknown but later in his adult life, Wilkins was frequently referred as the "Senior Stateman" of the Civil Rights Movement.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., Wilkins (1901-1981) and his siblings moved to St. Paul to live with an aunt and uncle after his mother died when he was four years old. Growing up in the city's famed Rondo neighborhood, he later attended local schools before coming to the U.
While on campus, Wilkins as a student worked at the campus newspaper, The Minnesota Daily. Then as a graduate student, he was hired as an editor for The Appeal, a St. Paul-based Black weekly newspaper in April, 1923. He later moved on and became editor of The Call.
Wilkins later joined the NAACP as assistant secretary in 1931 after he moved to New York City. Three years later, he replaced W.E.B. DuBois as editor of the organization's official magazine, The Crisis after the latter left the NAACP in 1934.
Wilkins rose through the ranks during his five decades-plus stint with the national civil rights organization, beginning as serving as executive secretary in 1955, and served in other leadership roles became he became NAACP executive director in 1964.
Also, during his years there, and even before, Wilkins was considered a staunch liberal and was relentless in fighting for civil rights – his nickname, "Mr. Civil Rights" was rightfully earned.
He stood aside A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and others and co-founded the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) in 1950, which became the premier civil rights coalition in this country.
He also worked with Mississippi Blacks in their fight against a "credit squeeze" against them by the White Citizen Councils, and helped supported a plan for Black businesses and organizations to shift their funds to a Black owned bank in Memphis.
But his stances often ran counter with other Black liberals and criticized by Du Bois and others for his cautious approach and suspicions of grassroots organizations. He once participated in a smear campaign against Paul Robeson by helping to ghost-write a leaflet to be printed and distributed in Africa, and got involved with the FBI and the U.S. State Department to help spread negative views on Robeson. Wilkins also wrote an article on Robeson, criticizing his involvement with the Communist Party USA.
Wilkins also critical of the Freedom Riders in the early 1960, but later changed his views and was arrested for leading a picketing protest in 1963. He also was a participant in three major marches: March on Washington (1963), Selma to Montgomery (1965) and March Against Fear (1966).
A strong believer that social change can come through legislative means, Wilkens helped coordinate national campaigns on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957. He testified before many hearings in Congress and conferred with four presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter during his lifetime.
Wilkins also served as an adviser to the U.S. War Department during World War II, and later saw serving in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War might be financially beneficial for Blacks, and advocated for the importance of an integrated American army. The Armed Forces would establish the Roy Wilkins Service Award in 1980 in recognition of service members who embodied the same spirit of human rights and equality as the award's namesake.
Recipient of the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1964, Wilkins also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Johnson in 1969. When he finally retired from the NAACP in 1977 at the age of 76, Wilkins was honored by the organization with the title Director Emeritus.
Wilkins' autobiography was published posthumously in 1982, a year after his death on Sept. 8, 1981, eight days after his 80th birthday. The Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York was named after him as well.
Back in his second hometown, The St. Paul Auditorium was renamed the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in 1985 – it was designed by local Black architect Clarence Wigington, the nation's first Black municipal architect and built in 1932. It is part of the Capital City's RiverCentre complex today.
And on campus, The University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs in 1992 established the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice.
Finally, before a few decades before a stamp honoring him was issued in 2001, and before being named as one of the 100 Greatest African Americans in 2002, Wilkins was prominently mentioned in Gil Scott Heron's 1971's classic spoken word song, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
Before he became a civil rights icon, Roy Wilkins attended the University of Minnesota as a sociology student. Whether his activism roots or quest for civil rights and equity for all was first fostered on the Twin Cities campus is unknown but later in his adult life, Wilkins was frequently referred as the "Senior Stateman" of the Civil Rights Movement.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., Wilkins (1901-1981) and his siblings moved to St. Paul to live with an aunt and uncle after his mother died when he was four years old. Growing up in the city's famed Rondo neighborhood, he later attended local schools before coming to the U.
While on campus, Wilkins as a student worked at the campus newspaper, The Minnesota Daily. Then as a graduate student, he was hired as an editor for The Appeal, a St. Paul-based Black weekly newspaper in April, 1923. He later moved on and became editor of The Call.
Wilkins later joined the NAACP as assistant secretary in 1931 after he moved to New York City. Three years later, he replaced W.E.B. DuBois as editor of the organization's official magazine, The Crisis after the latter left the NAACP in 1934.
Wilkins rose through the ranks during his five decades-plus stint with the national civil rights organization, beginning as serving as executive secretary in 1955, and served in other leadership roles became he became NAACP executive director in 1964.
Also, during his years there, and even before, Wilkins was considered a staunch liberal and was relentless in fighting for civil rights – his nickname, "Mr. Civil Rights" was rightfully earned.
He stood aside A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and others and co-founded the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) in 1950, which became the premier civil rights coalition in this country.
He also worked with Mississippi Blacks in their fight against a "credit squeeze" against them by the White Citizen Councils, and helped supported a plan for Black businesses and organizations to shift their funds to a Black owned bank in Memphis.
But his stances often ran counter with other Black liberals and criticized by Du Bois and others for his cautious approach and suspicions of grassroots organizations. He once participated in a smear campaign against Paul Robeson by helping to ghost-write a leaflet to be printed and distributed in Africa, and got involved with the FBI and the U.S. State Department to help spread negative views on Robeson. Wilkins also wrote an article on Robeson, criticizing his involvement with the Communist Party USA.
Wilkins also critical of the Freedom Riders in the early 1960, but later changed his views and was arrested for leading a picketing protest in 1963. He also was a participant in three major marches: March on Washington (1963), Selma to Montgomery (1965) and March Against Fear (1966).
A strong believer that social change can come through legislative means, Wilkens helped coordinate national campaigns on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957. He testified before many hearings in Congress and conferred with four presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter during his lifetime.
Wilkins also served as an adviser to the U.S. War Department during World War II, and later saw serving in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War might be financially beneficial for Blacks, and advocated for the importance of an integrated American army. The Armed Forces would establish the Roy Wilkins Service Award in 1980 in recognition of service members who embodied the same spirit of human rights and equality as the award's namesake.
Recipient of the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1964, Wilkins also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Johnson in 1969. When he finally retired from the NAACP in 1977 at the age of 76, Wilkins was honored by the organization with the title Director Emeritus.
Wilkins' autobiography was published posthumously in 1982, a year after his death on Sept. 8, 1981, eight days after his 80th birthday. The Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York was named after him as well.
Back in his second hometown, The St. Paul Auditorium was renamed the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in 1985 – it was designed by local Black architect Clarence Wigington, the nation's first Black municipal architect and built in 1932. It is part of the Capital City's RiverCentre complex today.
And on campus, The University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs in 1992 established the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice.
Finally, before a few decades before a stamp honoring him was issued in 2001, and before being named as one of the 100 Greatest African Americans in 2002, Wilkins was prominently mentioned in Gil Scott Heron's 1971's classic spoken word song, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
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