Award Year

Recipient

Honor

1915

Professor Ernest E. Just

Head of Physiology, Howard University Medical School for research in biology.

1916

Major Charles Young

Services in organizing the Liberian Constabulary and roads in the Republic of Liberia.

1917

Harry T. Burleigh

Excellence in the field of creative music.

1918

William Stanley Braithwaite

Distinguished achievements in literature.

1919

Archibald H. Grimke

U.S. Consul in Santo Domingo; President of American Negro Academy; for seventy years of distinguished service to his race and country.

1920

William Edwards Burghardt
(W.E. B.) DuBois

Author, Editor Crisis Magazine; founding and calling of Pan-African Congress.

1921

Charles S. Gilpin

Notable performance in the title role of The Emperor Jones and for excellence as an actor.

1922

Mary B. Talbert

Former President of the National Association of Colored Women and for continued service to women of color.

1923

George Washington Carver

Head of Department of Research and Director of the Experiment Station of Tuskegee Inst. For researching Agricultural Chemistry.

1924

Roland Hayes

Singer; for artistry through interpreting Negro folk song; soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

1925

James Weldon Johnson

Former U.S. Consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua; former editor and secretary of NAACP.

1926

Carter G. Woodson

Historian and Founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History; editor, Negro Orators and Their Orations for his outstanding work as an historian.

1927

Anthony Overton

President of Victory Life Insurance Company, the first black company certified by the state of New York.

1928

Charles W. Chestnutt

Author; for his pioneer work as a literary artist, depicting the life and struggle of Americans of Negro descent.

1929

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson

President of Howard University.  For distinguished leadership as first black president.

1930

Henry Hunt

Principal of the Fort Valley High and Industrial School, Fort Valley, GA.  For twenty-five years of service in the education of black students.

1931

Richard Berry Harrison

For his fine and reverent characterization of the Lord in Marc Connelly’s Play – The Green Pastures.

1932

Robert Russa Moton

Principal of the Tuskegee Institute.  For excellent leadership and service in the field of education.

1933

Max Yergan

American Y.M.C.A. Secretary; missionary of intelligence, tact and self-sacrifice.  For the excellence of his work in Africa.

1934

William Taylor Burwell Williams

Dean of Tuskegee Institute, long service as field agent of the Slater and Jeanes Funds and the General Education Board.

1935

Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune

Founder and President of Bethune Cookman College.  For outstanding leadership and service to education.

1936 (posthumously)

John Hope

President of Atlanta University; distinguished leader of his race.

1937

Walter White

Executive Secretary of NAACP.  For his personal investigation of more than forty-one lynchings.

1938

                               NO AWARD GIVEN

1939

Marian Anderson

Chosen for her special achievement in music.

1940

Louis T. Wright

Surgeon; chosen for his contribution to the healing of mankind and for his courageous position in the face of bitter attack.

1941

Richard Wright

Author; Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Native Son.  For his outstanding creative literature.

1942

A. Philip Randolph

International President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.  For his role in securing the presidential order to establish the FEPC in 1941.

1943

William H. Hastie

Jurist and Educator; chosen for his distinguished career as a jurist and uncompromising champion of equal justice.

1944

Charles Drew

Scientist; chosen for his outstanding work in blood plasma; research led to establishment of blood plasma bank.

1945

Paul Robeson

Singer and Actor chosen for distinguished achievement in the theatre and concert stage.

1946

Thurgood Marshall

Special Counsel for NAACP.  For distinguished service as a lawyer before the U.S. Supreme Court.

1947

Dr. Percy Julian

Research Chemist chosen for many important discoveries that have saved many lives.

1948

Channing H. Tobias

In recognition of his consistent role as a defender of fundamental American liberties.

1949

Ralph J. Bunche

International civil servant; acting UN mediator in Palestine.  For singular service to the United Nations.

1950

Charles Hamilton Houston

Chairman, NAACP Legal Committee and stalwart defender of democracy.

1951

Mabel Keaton Staupers

Leader of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

1952

Harry T. Moore

NAACP leader in the state of Florida and a martyr in the crusade for freedom.

1953

Paul R. Williams

Distinguished architect, for his pioneer contributions as a creative designer of livable, attractive modern dwellings.

1954

Theodore K. Lawless

Physician, educator and philanthropist.  For pioneering achievements in dermatology.

1955

Carl J. Murphy

Dedicated editor, publisher and farsighted civic leader.

1956

Jack Roosevelt Robinson

Brilliant and versatile athlete; for superb sportsmanship and for his singular role in athletics.

1957

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dedicated and selfless clergyman; for leadership role in the Montgomery bus protest movement.

1958

Mrs. Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine

For their pioneer role in upholding the basic ideals of American democracy in the face of continuing harassment and constant threats of bodily injury.

1959

Edward Kennedy (Duke) Ellington

Composer and orchestra leader.  For outstanding and unique musical achievements.

1960

Langston Hughes

Poet, author and playwright.

1961

Kenneth B. Clark

Professor of Psychology at the College of the City of New York; founder/director of the Northside Center for Child Development.  For his dedicated service and inspired research in the field of psychology.

1962

Robert C. Weaver

Administrator, Housing and Home Finance Agency; for his long years of dedicated public service at municipal, state and federal levels.

1963

Medgar Wiley Evers

NAACP field secretary for the state of Mississippi.  For his dedication and steadfast courage in the face of continued death threats.

1964

Roy Wilkins

Executive Director, NAACP.  For his leadership, integrity and his dedicated service.

1965

Leontyne Price

Metropolitan Opera star, in recognition of her divinely inspired talent.

1966

John H. Johnson

Founder/President of the Johnson Publishing Company of Chicago.

1967

Edward W. Brooke, III

First Negro to win popular election to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.

1968

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Broadway/Hollywood star and civil rights activist.

1969

Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr.

Director, Washington Bureau, NAACP and civil rights lobbyist.  For his pivotal role in the enactment of civil rights legislation.

1970

Jacob Lawrence

Artist, teacher and humanitarian.

1971

Leon Howard Sullivan

Clergyman, activist and prophet.

1972

Gordon Alexander Buchanan Parks

In recognition of his unique creativity, as exemplified by his outstanding achievements as photographer, writer, film maker and composer.

1973

Wilson C. Riles

Educator, in recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader in the field of education.

1974

Damon J. Keith

Jurist; in tribute to his steadfast defense of constitutional principles.

1975

                               NO AWARD GIVEN

1976

Hank Aaron

Athlete, in recognition of his singular achievement in the sport which symbolizes America – baseball; his impressive home run record.

1977

Alvin Ailey

Innovative dancer, choreographer and artistic director.

1977

Alexander Palmer Haley

Author, biographer and lecturer; exhaustive research and literary skill combined in Roots.

1978

                               NO AWARD GIVEN

1979

Andrew Jackson Young

Minister plenipotentiary and extraordinary United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

1979

Rosa L. Parks

In recognition to the quiet courage and determination exemplified when she refused to surrender her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.

1980

Rayford W. Logan

Educator, historian, author for his prodigious efforts to set before the world the black American’s continuing struggle against oppression.

1981

Coleman Alexander Young

Mayor, City of Detroit; public servant, labor leader.

1982

Benjamin Elijah Mays

Educator, theologian and humanitarian.

1983

Lena Horne

Artist humanitarian and living symbol of excellence.

1984

                               NO AWARD GIVEN

1985

Tom Bradley

Government executive, public servant, humanist; Chief Executive of Calvert, Texas.

1985

William H. Cosby

Humorist, artist, educator, family man and humanitarian.

1986

Benjamin Lawson Hooks

Executive Director, NAACP.  In tribute to his precedent-setting accomplishments.

1987

Percy Ellis Sutton

Public servant, businessman, community leader.

1988

Frederick Douglass Patterson

Educator, doctor of veterinary medicine, visionary and humanitarian.

1989

Jesse Louis Jackson

Clergyman, political leader, civil rights activist; first American of African descent to become a major presidential candidate.

1990

Lawrence Douglas Wilder

Governor, public servant, attorney and visionary in tribute to an extraordinary life of accomplishment.

1991

Colin L. Powell

General of the U.S. Army, 12th Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense.

1992

Barbara Jordan

Lawyer, educator, political leader and stateswoman.

1993

Dorothy Irene Height

National Council of Negro Women; National YWCA; The Center for Radical Justice; President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.  For extraordinary leadership in advancing women’s rights.

1994

Maya Angelou

Poet, author, actress, playwright, producer, educator and historian.

1995

John Hope Franklin

Historian, scholar and educator; in recognition of an unrelenting quest for truth and the enlightenment of Western Civilization.

1996

A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.

Jurist, Scholar, teacher and humanitarian; in honor of a distinguished jurist who emerged a giant of jurisprudence during a three-decade tenure as the nation’s longest serving active Federal Judge.

1997

Carl T. Rowan

Journalist, publicist, civic leader and public servant.

1998

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Civil rights activist, risk-taker, mother, true believer.

1999

Earl G. Graves, Sr.

Founder, Black Enterprise Magazine; Businessman, publisher, educator, advocate, entrepreneur, family man.

2000

Oprah Winfrey

Actress, producer, educator, publisher and humanitarian.

2001

Vernon E. Jordan

Lawyer, Advisor to Presidents, Champion of Civil Rights and Human Rights, Exemplar and True Believer.

2002

John Lewis

Public servant, protector of civil and human rights, community leader and inspirer of youth.

2003

Constance Baker Motley

Civil rights pioneer, jurist, public official, for her commitment and pursuit of the goal of equal opportunity and justice for all Americans.

2004

Robert L. Carter

Attorney, educator, federal judge and guardian of civil rights; for his extraordinary achievement of winning twenty-one cases argued before the Supreme Court.

2005

Oliver W. Hill

For his key role in the United States Supreme Court Case, Brown v. Board; for his determined, quiet and persistent pursuit of justice.

2006

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.

In tribute to a lifetime of growth and singular achievement, from the bottom of his fifth grade class, to become the youngest ever Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the United States.

2007

John Conyers, Jr.

Guardian of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, consummate legislator and public servant.

2008

*Ruby Dee

Not yet presented

2009

*Julian Bond

To be presented July 16, 2009