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April 1960

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Achievement · politics
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Founded

Founded at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC by student activists including Diane Nash, John Lewis, and Marion Barry, SNCC became the most radical and youth-driven organization of the civil rights movement, organizing sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration.

Events

  1. April 15, 1960
    Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Founded

    Founded at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC by student activists including Diane Nash, John Lewis, and Marion Barry, SNCC became the most radical and youth-driven organization of the civil rights movement, organizing sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration.

  2. April 15, 1960
    Ella Baker founds the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

    Ella Baker convened a conference at Shaw University that led to the founding of SNCC in 1960, insisting on student-led organizing rather than top-down leadership. Her philosophy of participatory democracy and grassroots power shaped SNCC's approach and influenced generations of organizers. She is widely regarded as one of the most important and under-recognized architects of the civil rights movement.