Recipients of the NAACP Spingarn Medal

Instituted in 1914 by J. E. Spingarn, former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the NAACP for the highest achievement by a black American. The award is presented for accomplishments in the previous year.

Year

Name

Field

1915	Ernest E. Just	Biologist
1916	Charles Young	Army major
1917	Harry T. Burleigh	Composer, pianist, singer
1918	William Stanley Braithwaite	Poet, literary critic, editor
1919	Archibald H. Grimké	Diplomat, author, civic leader
1920	W. E. B. Du Bois	Author, editor, activist
1921	Charles S. Gilpin	Actor
1922	Mary B. Talbert	Civic leader
1923	George Washington Carver	Agricultural chemist
1924	Roland Hayes	Singer
1925	James Weldon Johnson	Author, diplomat, civic leader
1926	Carter G. Woodson	Historian
1927	Anthony Overton	Businessman
1928	Charles W. Chesnutt	Author
1929	Mordecai Wyatt Johnson	Educator
1930	Henry A. Hunt	Educator
1931	Richard Berry Harrison	Actor
1932	Robert Russa Moton	Educator
1933	Max Yergan	Missionary
1934	William Taylor Burwell Williams	Educator
1935	Mary McLeod Bethune	Educator
1936	John Hope	Educator
1937	Walter White	Civic leader
1938	No award
1939	Marian Anderson	Singer
1940	Louis T. Wright	Surgeon
1941	Richard Wright	Author
1942	A. Philip Randolph	Labor leader
1943	William H. Hastie	Jurist, educator
1944	Charles Drew	Scientist
1945	Paul Robeson	Singer, actor
1946	Thurgood Marshall	Lawyer
1947	Percy Julian	Chemist
1948	Channing H. Tobias	Civic leader
1949	Ralph J. Bunche	Diplomat
1950	Charles Hamilton Houston	Lawyer
1951	Mabel Keaton Staupers	Nurse
1952	Harry T. Moore	Activist
1953	Paul R. Williams	Architect
1954	Theodore K. Lawless	Physician, educator
1955	Carl Murphy	Editor, publisher, civic leader
1956	Jackie Robinson	Athlete
1957	Martin Luther King Jr.	Clergyman, activist
1958	Daisy Bates and the 'Little Rock Nine'	Activists
1959	Duke Ellington	Composer, musician
1960	Langston Hughes	Poet, author, playwright
1961	Kenneth B. Clark	Psychologist
1962	Robert C. Weaver	Public administrator
1963	Medgar Evers	Activist
1964	Roy Wilkins	Civic leader
1965	Leontyne Price	Singer
1966	John H. Johnson	Publisher
1967	Edward W. Brooke III	Politician
1968	Sammy Davis Jr.	Entertainer, activist
1969	Clarence M. Mitchell Jr.	Civic leader
1970	Jacob Lawrence	Artist
1971	Leon H. Sullivan	Clergyman, activist
1972	Gordon Parks Sr.	Photographer, writer, filmmaker, composer
1973	Wilson C. Riles	Educator
1974	Damon Keith	Jurist
1975	Hank Aaron	Athlete
1976	Alvin Ailey	Dancer, choreographer
1977	Alex Haley	Author
1978	Andrew Young	Diplomat, activist
1979	Rosa Parks	Activist
1980	Rayford W. Logan	Educator, historian, author
1981	Coleman Young	Politician, labor leader, activist
1982	Benjamin Mays	Educator, theologian
1983	Lena Horne	Actor, singer
1984	Tom Bradley	Politician
1985	Bill Cosby	Humorist, Educator
1986	Benjamin Hooks	Civic leader
1987	Percy Sutton	Civic leader, businessman
1988	Frederick Patterson	Educator
1989	Jesse L. Jackson	Clergyman, politician, activist
1990	L. Douglas Wilder	Politician
1991	Colin L. Powell	Army general
1992	Barbara Jordan	Politician, lawyer, educator
1993	Dorothy Irene Height	Civic leader
1994	Maya Angelou	Poet, author, actress, educator
1995	John Hope Franklin	Historian, educator
1996	A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.	Jurist, historian
1997	Carl T. Rowan	Journalist, civic leader
1998	Myrlie Evers-Williams	Activist
1999	Earl G. Graves Sr.	Publisher
2000	Oprah Winfrey	Entertainer
2001	Vernon E. Jordan	Lawyer, civic leader
2002	John Lewis	Politician, civil rights leader
2003	Constance Baker Motley	Civil rights leader, judge
2004	Robert L. Carter	Litigator, judge
2005	Oliver W. Hill	Lawyer, civic leader
2006	Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr.	Neurosurgeon
2007	John Conyers, Jr.	Congressman

Source: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

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