The Spingarn Medal was established in 1914 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The award was named for Joel Elias Spingarn (1875-1939), who was then chairman of the NAACP’s board of directors. Gold medals are given each year to the African American who reaches the highest achievement in his or her field in the previous year or over a period of time.
|
Year |
Recipient |
|---|---|
|
1915 |
Ernest E. Just (1883-1941), cell biologist |
|
1916 |
Charles Young (1864-1922), army officer |
|
1917 |
Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949), singer and composer |
|
1918 |
William Stanley Braithwaite (1878-1962), writer and editor |
|
1919 |
Archibald H. Grimké (1849-1930), activist and writer |
|
1920 |
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963), educator and writer |
|
1921 |
Charles S. Gilpin (1878-1930), actor |
|
1922 |
Mary B. Talbert (1886-1923), civil rights activist |
|
1923 |
George Washington Carver (c.1864-1943), botanist |
|
1924 |
Roland Hayes (1887-1977), singer |
|
1925 |
James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), writer and U.S. consul |
|
1926 |
Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), historian |
|
1927 |
Anthony Overton (1865-1946), businessman, judge and newspaper publisher |
|
1928 |
Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932), writer |
|
1929 |
Mordecai Wyatt Johnson (1890-1976), educator |
|
1930 |
Henry A. Hunt (1866-1938), educator |
|
1931 |
Richard Berry Harrison (1864-1935), actor |
|
1932 |
Robert Russa Moton (1867-1940), educator |
|
1933 |
Max Yergan (1892-1975), activist and YMCA promoter |
|
1934 |
William Taylor Burwell Williams (1869-1941), educator |
|
1935 |
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), educator |
|
1936 |
John Hope (1868-1936), educator |
|
1937 |
Walter White (1893–1955), writer |
|
1938 |
[no award] |
|
1939 |
Marian Anderson (1902–1993), singer |
|
1940 |
Louis T. Wright (1891–1952), civil rights administrator and physician |
|
1941 |
Richard Wright (1908–1960), writer |
|
1942 |
A. Philip Randolph (1889–1979), labor leader |
|
1943 |
William H. Hastie (1904–1976), judge |
|
1944 |
Charles Drew (1904–1950), physician |
|
1945 |
Paul Robeson (1898–1976), singer and actor |
|
1946 |
Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993), Supreme Court Justice |
|
1947 |
Percy Julian (1899–1975), chemist |
|
1948 |
Channing H. Tobias (1882–1961), civil rights activist and diplomat |
|
1949 |
Ralph J. Bunche (1904–1971), diplomat |
|
1950 |
Charles Hamilton Houston (1895–1950), lawyer |
|
1951 |
Mabel Keaton Staupers (1890–1989), nurse |
|
1952 |
Harry T. Moore (1905–1951), civil rights leader |
|
1953 |
Paul R. Williams (1894–1980), architect |
|
1954 |
Theodore K. Lawless (1892–1971), physician |
|
1955 |
Carl Murphy (1889–1967), newspaper editor and publisher |
|
1956 |
Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), baseball player |
|
1957 |
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), clergyman and reformer |
|
1958 |
Daisy Bates (1922–), civil rights activist, and the Little Rock Nine (nine students) |
|
1959 |
Duke Ellington (1899–1974), bandleader and composer |
|
1960 |
Langston Hughes (1902–1967), writer |
|
1961 |
Kenneth B. Clark (1914–), psychologist |
|
1962 |
Robert C. Weaver (1907–), housing administrator and cabinet member |
|
1963 |
Medgar Wiley Evers (1925–1963), civil rights leader |
|
1964 |
Roy Wilkins (1901–1981), civil rights leader |
|
1965 |
Leontyne Price (1927–), singer |
|
1966 |
John H. Johnson (1918–), publisher |
|
1967 |
Edward W. Brooke III (1919–), politician |
|
1968 |
Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925–1990), entertainer |
|
1969 |
Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. (1911–1984), civil rights activist and labor secretary of the NAACP |
|
1970 |
Jacob Lawrence (1917–), painter |
|
1971 |
Leon Howard Sullivan (1922–), civil rights activist and clergyman |
|
1972 |
Gordon Parks (1912–), writer and photographer |
|
1973 |
Wilson C. Riles (1917–), administrator and educator |
|
1974 |
Damon Keith (1922–), administrator, judge, and lawyer |
|
1975 |
Hank Aaron (1934–), baseball player |
|
1976 |
Alvin Ailey (1931–1989), dancer and choreographer |
|
1977 |
Alexander Haley (1924–1992), writer |
|
1978 |
Andrew Young, Jr. (1932–), civil rights activist, minister and public official |
|
1979 |
Rosa L. Parks (1913–), civil rights activist |
|
1980 |
Rayford W. Logan (1897–1982), historian |
|
1981 |
Coleman Young (1918–), politician |
|
1982 |
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1895–1984), clergyman and educator |
|
1983 |
Lena Horne (1917–), singer |
|
1984 |
Tom Bradley (1917–1998), politician |
|
1985 |
Bill Cosby (1937–), actor |
|
1986 |
Benjamin Hooks (1925–), judge, public official and civil rights reformer |
|
1987 |
Percy Ellis Sutton (1920–), activist, lawyer and politician |
|
1988 |
Frederick Douglass Patterson (1901–1988); educator and founder of the United Negro College Fund |
|
1989 |
Jesse Jackson (1941-), clergyman, civil rights leader, and politician |
|
1990 |
L. Douglas Wilder (1931-), lawyer and politician |
|
1991 |
Colin Powell (1937-), general and politician |
|
1992 |
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996), U.S. representative |
|
1993 |
Dorothy L. Height (1912-), civil rights activist |
|
1994 |
Maya Angelou (1928-), poet |
|
1995 |
John Hope Franklin (1915-) historian |
|
1996 |
A. Leon Higginbotham (1928-), judge |
|
1997 |
Carl T. Rowan (1925-), journalist |
|
1998 |
Myrlie Evers-Williams (1933-), civil rights activist, chairwoman of NAACP, 1995-1998 |
|
1999 |
Earl G. Graves, Sr. (1935-), Chairman and CEO of Black Enterprise Magazine |
Douglass, Melvin I. Black Winners: A History of Spingarn Medalists, 1915-1983. New York: T. Gaus, 1984.
Louisville Free Public Library. “The Spingarn Medal,” www.lfpl.org/reference/rflksgarn.htm
