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-John Hope receives Spingarn Medal as a leader and college president.

1937 - Walter White receives Spingarn Medal for his personal investigation of 41 lynchings and 8 race riots and for lobbying for a Federal anti-lynching bill.

1938 - In Lloyd Gaines v. U. of Missouri, taken to the U.S. Supreme Court by the NAACP, the Court orders the university to provide Gaines with a legal education.
-Thurgood Marshall is appointed NAACP Special Counsel.

1939 - The legal department of the NAACP is incorporated as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

[[image - black and white photograph of large group of people seated in rows behind conference tables; a banner hanging behind them reads Lest We Forget "OUR FALLEN HEROES"; photo spans two pages]]
- Joel E. Spingarn dies.
- Arthur Spingarn elected President of the NAACP.
- Spingarn Medal awarded to internationally acclaimed contralto, Marian Anderson.

1940 - U.S. Supreme Court reverses lower court in Hansberry v. Lee to permit Negro family to live in formerly white neighborhood in Chicago.
- Louis T. Wright, noted surgeon, receives Spingan Medal.

1941 - Richard Wright, author of Native Son, receives Spingarn Medal.

1942 - A. Philip Randolph receives Spingarn Medal for leadership in labor.

1943 - William H. Hastie receives Spingarn Medal for his work as a jurist and educator.

1944 - Negro soldiers,, around the world, in gratitude for NAACP work in their behalf, begin to send thousands of dollars to the Association.
- Charles R. Drew receives Spingarn Medal for his work with blood plasma and development of a blood bank.

1945 - Paul Robeson receives Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievement in the theatre and on the concert stage.

1946 - Thurgood Marshall receives Spingarn Medal for his outstanding work before the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

1947 - Dr. Percy L. Julian receives Spingarn Medal for his work as a research chemist.

1948 - following a conference with a delegation from the NAACP, President Harry Truman issues Executive Order 9981 directing "equality of treatment and opportunity" in the Armed Forces.
- Channing H. Tobias receives Spingarn Medal as a defender of fundamental American Liberties.
- In Shelly v. Kraemer, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Federal and state courts may not enforce restrictive covenants.
- Dr. Du Bois leaves the NAACP.

1949 - Dr. Ralph J. Bunche receives Spingarn Medal for his scholarship in the Myrdal study and his leadership as an international civil servant.

1950 - Spingarn Medal is awarded Charles H. Houston as champion of equal rights for all Americans.

1951 - Drive for "equality under law" is launched with onslaught against school segregation in the South.
- Investigation of segregated units in Korea is conducted by Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall.
- Mabel Keaton Staupers, pioneer in nursing, 36th Spingarn Medalist.

1952 - The five school segregation cases challenging the separate but equal doctrine reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Complaints originate from Clarendon County, S.C., Prince Edward County, Va., Topeka, Kansas, Wilmington, Del., and Washington, D.C. Cases argued Dec. 9-Dec. 11.
- Harry T. Moore, NAACP Florida state leader, 37th Spingarn Medalist (posthumously).

1953 - Dr. Channing H. Tobias, chairman of NAACP Board of Directors, launches Fight for Freedom campaign at NAACP 44th Annual Convention, St. Louis Mo., June 23-28. "Free by '63" becomes nationwide NAACP slogan.
-Paul R. Williams, architect, 38th Spingarn Medalist.

1954 - U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision on May 17 overturning the separate but equal doctrine in public education. NAACP "Atlanta Declaration," May 23, offers negotiations to eradicate segregated schools in spirit of "calm reasonableness."
-Theodore K. Lawless, world renown dermatologist, 39th Spingarn Medalist.

1955 - NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White dies on March 21 after more than a quarter of a century as NAACP official.
-Roy Wilkins elected Executive Secretary by NAACP Board of Directors in April.
-The Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott, which involves local NAACP branch officials, begins in December.