Wilkins, Roy (1901–1981)

Firmly committed to securing civic rights and social justice for black Americans through legislative action, Roy Wilkins had a long-standing association with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wilkins's longevity with the NAACP enabled him to contribute to the passage of key civil rights advances, such as the Civil Rights Act.

Wilkins was born on August 30, 1901, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of African American parents escaping the Jim Crow indignities and white violence that characterized their native Mississippi. After his mother's death, Wilkins and his siblings moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and were adopted by his maternal aunt and her husband. Wilkins's formative years in Minnesota foreshadowed themes and professional commitments that defined his adult life. As a child, his St. Paul upbringing provided a context in which he regularly experienced positive interactions with white neighbors, classmates, and teachers, thereby seeding a firm belief in the possibilities of racial harmony and integration. Participation with his high school's magazine staff, yearbook committee, and literacy society enabled his writing talents to blossom and thrive. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1923 with a degree in sociology and a well-deserved reputation as a talented newspaperman. Wilkins's young life was not untouched by the significance of race, however, as a series of difficult jobs throughout college and a Duluth, Minnesota, lynching informed his understanding of the hazards inherent in black citizenship.

Wilkins credited journalism with carving a path beyond the circumscribed opportunities afforded to most black citizens of his era. Positions with the Northwestern Bulletin, St. Paul Appeal, and Kansas City Call sharpened Wilkins's abilities as a reporter and editor, in addition to broadening his grasp of business finances. In 1929, he married Aminda “Minnie” Badeau. Although approached to become business manager of The Crisis, the major magazine for the NAACP, in 1930 Wilkins declined the invitation and did not accept employment with the civil rights organization's New York headquarters until the following year. At that time, he was installed as assistant secretary under Walter White. Wilkins committed the remainder of his professional life to the association, eventually serving as editor of The Crisis and executive director. Throughout his career, he guided successful efforts to protect voting rights, desegregate the armed services, promote racial integration in public education, and remove unlawful barriers in health care, public services, the legal system, and housing, among other areas. Although he provided counsel to several presidents, his advice was particularly valued by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wilkins, however, voiced disappointment with presidential and congressional failures to create a federal law against lynching. Firmly committed to securing civic rights and social justice for black Americans through legislative action, Wilkins's latter years with the NAACP were marked by sharp criticism from young leaders of the Black Power movement, who endorsed other advocacy approaches.

Wilkins died on September 8, 1981. His autobiography Standing Fast (1982) was published posthumously. His contributions to national advancement were recognized with a 1967 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the establishment of the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Human Justice at the University of Minnesota in 1992, and numerous awards and honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the United States and abroad.

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