Silent Parade, July 28, 1917.

Following a series of lynchings in Waco, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee in late 1916 and early 1917 and the vicious mob violence that killed 39 black men during a riot in St. Louis (though the actual number of dead and injured was likely much higher), the NAACP organized a demonstration. Called the 'Silent Parade,' more than 10,000 African-Americans marched slowly and silently down Fifth Avenue on Saturday, July 28, 1917. The women and children wore white. The NAACP sends out a notice for the event that included phases they hoped attendees might carry as signs. These included...

Make America Safe for Democracy.

The first blood for American Independence was shed by a Negro—Crispus Attucks.

America has lynched without trial 2,876 Negroes in 31 years and not a murderer has suffered.

Racial prejudice is the offspring of ignorance and the mother of lynching.

The great contradiction— love of God and hatred of man.