About Us

The bus boycotts have ended and the lunch counters are no longer segregated, yet our changing educational, political and economic landscape consists of new, often subtle barriers to the survival and success of African Americans and other minorities. The YJCW - NAACP continues the work of those who fought and died for our freedom in this new landscape in the twenty-first century.

 

 

Branch History

BRIEF HISTORY

OF THE

YORK-JAMES City-Williamsburg

BRANCH OF THE NAACP

 

           The YJCW Branch of the NAACP was organized in 1942 in Yorktown, Virginia.  Professor Charles E. Brown, F. E. Segar of Williamsburg, Henry Wright of James City County, Carrie Morton, George Billups and R. F. Edney of Yorktown, J. R. Armstead, S. Cheeseman and Mckinley Whiting of Williamsburg met and became charter members. This group of people contacted all the area churches and organized themselves through the local churches.

           The new organization met continuously throughout the World War II years. In 1959, R. F. Edney of Yorktown was elected president. It was at this time that the NAACP increased its church membership to twenty and also added the Highland Park Community.  It was under Edney’s leadership that the Freedom Drive and the Queen’s Rally became annual events.

           In 1960, the branch organized a supervisory committee with Rev. David Collins, Ezekiel Lee and Ben Spraggin as members. Their charge was to work with the youth in the three communities. (James City, York, Williamsburg) During this time, the workforces of the local A&P grocery store and Roses 5 & 10 store were integrated, and the branch encouraged its membership to apply for jobs.

           Reverend J. B. Tabb was elected president in 1961, Beulah Wallace was elected chairperson of the Freedom Fund Committee, and the branch became the largest contributor to the Virginia NAACP State Conference. During the 1960s and 1970s the country saw many changes in race relations, and the YJCW Branch fought on the local level for civil and voter rights. In 1970, James Hicks became president of the branch and eventually president of the Virginia NAACP State Conference. Phillip Cooke was the next president of the branch and served for twenty years. It was during his tenure that Bobbye Alexander became the chairperson of ACT-SO.

           The branch members worked fervently during the 70s, 80s and 90s. At the beginning of the new millennium, the branch elected Arthur Mallory, Jr. president and developed a strategic plan for the coming years. Arthur guided the branch in implementing the organization’s plan and opening a new office with regular hours. The office is located at 479 McLaws Circle, Kingsmill Center (Suite 3).

           The branch’s membership has grown from twenty to seven hundred, which includes the Youth Council of more than fifty members. The branch membership is diversified in profession, race, and geography.

 

*Source of Information: Mrs. Irene Wallace Lee, former branch Secretary