Norwich - The NAACP has a lot to celebrate in 2009.

The nation's premier civil rights organization for African-Americans celebrates its centennial in the coming year, marking 100 years of fighting for equality in schools and playgrounds, in the workplace and in the voting booth.

Asked if she ever imagined the 100th anniversary year would bring about the ultimate triumph for voting minorities, Lottie Scott - a charter member of the 45-year-old Norwich branch - smiled broadly. Her eyes sparkled and she turned her face toward the heavens.

”I never imagined that would be happening,” Scott said. “Even though Shirley Chisholm ran (in 1972) and I was so into her, I said, 'You go, girl!'… The NAACP is a remarkable organization. It really pushed for change through legislation, the Voting Rights Act … No, I did not imagine that we would be around for 100 years and just how far the journey of the NAACP has taken us. It's about working hard and making a difference.”

Jacqueline Owens, longtime president of the Norwich branch, reflected on the accomplishments for the past century of the national organization, but said, “there's still so much more to do.”

Owens, 70, said she, too, still can't believe that she lived long enough to see an African-American elected president, and that it occurred near the time of the NAACP's 100th anniversary. She looks forward to the Norwich branch's 50th anniversary.

Owens was elected president of the local branch when it was floundering in 1987. She and others worked hard to build up membership and activities.

The Norwich branch celebrated Obama's election on Dec. 17 with a party at Olympic Pizza following the annual meeting. Owens was re-elected president.

That was only the beginning of a centennial celebration that will run throughout 2009 with an ambitious schedule of events and plans to “boost” the branch's regular events with special touches. Scott is approaching local businesses and supporters seeking donations to fund the various events. She hopes to raise about $60,000, but said she knows that could be tough in the current economy.

The NAACP's official founding date is Feb. 12, 1909 - the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

Scott and Edward Derr, principal of the Thames River Academy alternative high school, said the year of celebration would be coupled with an educational campaign to try to leave a lasting impression on local curriculum at all levels.

”Little by little, the people who are connected to the modern Civil Rights era are getting a little grayer and passing away,” Derr said. “We're missing that connection with today and yesterday.”

Students already are researching topics for two presentations in the centennial celebration. On Jan. 16, a month-long art and history project opens at the Converse Art Gallery at Slater Museum on the Norwich Free Academy campus.

Students from throughout the region are researching 19th-century Norwich mill tycoon John Fox Slater and the story of colleges he founded and funded to educate blacks throughout the South.

The art exhibit opens immediately following the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon hosted by the NAACP at the Sidney Frank Center at NFA.

The guest speaker will be history and English professor Lenwood Davis of Winston-Salem State University, a school founded by John Fox Slater.

In February, the NAACP will open another art and history exhibit: “We are 100 - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” at the Artspace gallery on Chestnut Street. Owens and others are researching the history of the NAACP and the Civil Rights movement and other aspects of the organization's history and will present storyboards for the exhibit.

”Then we want to continue it into the public school system,” Derr said.

The Norwich school system already is gearing up to participate in the city's 350th anniversary celebration in 2009, researching the Mohegan Sachem Uncas and Samuel Huntington, among others. Derr wants to add Prudence Crandall and Norwich's strong connection to the abolitionist movement. And he wants those issues taught as part of Norwich history, not as Norwich black history.

”No history really should stand alone,” Derr said. “Up until the last 20 years, we haven't done a very good job of that. We still don't. It's still something that's added on.”

Article UID=aa4e53ea-464a-454e-8585-226cb7e4cec4