Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was a journalist, editor, and civil rights activist.  Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a BA in sociology in 1923.  His career as a journalist began with the Minnesota Daily, and he later worked for African American newspapers such as the St. Paul Appeal and the Kansas City Call.  In 1934 Wilkins replaced W.E.B DuBois as the editor of The Crisis.  He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, and he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches as well as the March Against Fear in 1966.  Wilkins was a proponent for nonviolence and opposed the militant approach of the “black power” movement.

Image: Original caption: Roy Wilkins, a civil rights leader and director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from, sits in a chair in the NAACP office. New York, New York. 1963.  Copyright: Corbis.