John Malveaux of
www.MusicUNTOLD.com
writes:
BEST Yom Kippur to friends of the Jewish faith. As a Catholic, I salute Joel Elias Spingarn (May 17, 1875 – July 26, 1939). "An influential liberal Republican, he helped realize the concept of a unified black movement by joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) shortly after its founding and was one of the first Jewish leaders of that organization, serving as chairman of its board from 1913 to 1919, its treasurer from 1919 to 1930, its second president from 1930 until his death in 1939. In 1914 he established the Spingarn Medal, awarded annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American. During World War I, according to an NAACP publication, he was instrumental in seeing that 'a training camp for Negro officers at Des Moines was established and about 1,000 Negro officers commissioned.'" [Wikipedia.org]
