Baker, Ella Jo

African American Civil Rights activist.

1903 - Born on the 13th of December in Norfolk, Virginia.

1927 - Attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

1929-1930 - Editorial staff member of the American West Indian News, going on to take the position of editorial assistant at the Negro National News.

1930 - Involved in consumer advocacy, joining the Young Negroes' Cooperative League consumer cooperative and became the group's national director.

1938 - Began her long association with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as a field organizer.

1943 - She became NAACP Director of branches.

1946 - Returned to New York City to care for her niece.

1952 - She joined the New York branch of the NAACP to work on school desegregation, and became its President.

1960 - Persuaded the SCLC to invite southern university students to the Southwide Youth Leadership Conference at Shaw University on Easter weekend.

          -  At this meeting the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed.

1962-1967 - Worked on the staff of the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF), which aimed to help black and white people work together.

1964 - Helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) as an alternative to the regular Democratic Party in Mississippi.

1986 - Ella Jo died on 13th of December at the age of 83.