Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Founded at Shaw University

On April 15-17, 1960, at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, student sit-in leaders from 58 cities meet under the guidance of Ella Baker to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Baker encourages the students to form their own organization independent of SCLC and NAACP control. SNCC elects Marion Barry as its first chairman. The organization adopts a consensus-based, decentralized structure reflecting Baker's organizing philosophy. SNCC goes on to lead voter registration in Mississippi, the Freedom Rides support, and eventually the Black Power movement.