Fort Erie Celebrates Its Place In The Birth of the NAACP & Its Ongoing Campaign For Social Justice

Posted by Doug Draper with News from the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario

Posted July 14^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop speaking during ceremony remembering the 120 anniversary of a meeting in Fort Erie that gave birth to the NAACP and its ongoing efforts to assure social justice and racial equality for all. photo by Doug Draper

This past Saturday, July 12^th, 2025 the Town of Fort Erie hosted a public gathering in Waverly Beach Park at the Niagara Movement plaque to celebrate 120 years since the original meetings in 1905 that lead to the founding of the NAACP (Niagara Association for the Advancement of Colored People) – a time-honoured civil rights organization that continues its efforts to make life better for everyone to this day.

Standing next to the Niagara Movement plaque, Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said “we gather here to press the issue of social justice and civil rights.

“We live in a strange time,” he added, and “it is still necessary for voices to be raised. … We all have  a part to play… to make sure that social justice and civil rights is a clarion call for all of us.”

Following the mayor’s words, those who gathered at the celebratory event heard from Leon Russell, the current Chairman of the NAACP, who sent a message via video that you can watch by clicking on the screen immediately below –

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In 2015, the Town of Fort Erie installed a plaque to commemorate the Niagara Movement at Erie Beach. The Waverly Beach Community Group raised donations to help pay for the current plaque.

President Barack Obama acknowledged the 110th anniversary of the Niagara Movement with a signed letter. The Mayors of Fort Erie and Buffalo spoke at the plaque unveiling together with community members who worked to recognize this important part of community history.

“I hereby pledge myself to fight in freedom”

On July 12, 1905, William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois and 28 African American men met at the Erie Beach Hotel during inaugural meetings of the Niagara Movement.

Over two days, this group wrote founding principles to fight for civil rights in America.

The Niagara Movement laid groundwork for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The plaque in Waverly Beach Park across the waters of Lake Erie and the mouth of the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York in Waverly Beach Park in Fort Erie, Ontario

Founded in 1909, the NAACP describes itself today as “the home of grassroots activism for civil rights and social justice….the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Thurgood Marshall, and many other giants.”

The NAACP envisions “an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination.”

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