NAACP Establishes the Spingarn Medal to Honor Black American Achievement

NAACP board chairman Joel Spingarn established the Spingarn Medal in 1914, awarded annually to the Black American who had made the highest achievement in any field of elevated or honorable human endeavor. The first medal was awarded in 1915 to biologist Ernest Just. The award became the most prestigious honor in Black American public life and continued uninterrupted for over a century.