Aaron Henry (1922-1997) was a civil rights leader, politician, and head of the NAACP. He was born in Dublin, Mississippi to Ed and Mattie Henry who were sharecroppers. He enlisted in the Army after high school and later attended Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans on the GI Bill. He graduated with a degree in Pharmacy. He opened a drug store in Clarksdale, Mississippi. 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is becoming very long. ... A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area  Ranked 32nd  - Total 48,434 sq. ... Sharecropping is a system of sharefarming in which farmers work a parcel of land which they do not own in return for a portion of the parcels crop production and/or a wage. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... High school - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Xavier University of Louisiana is a historically African-American Roman Catholic University located off Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Crescent City, The Big Easy, The City That Care Forgot Location Location in the State of Louisiana and the United States Coordinates , Government Country State Parish United States Louisiana Orleans Parish, Louisiana Founded 1718 Mayor Ray Nagin (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 350. ... Stamp commemorating the G.I. Bill or Servicemens Readjustment Act The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemens Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G. I.s) as well as one-year... Academic procession during the University of Canterbury graduation ceremony. ... A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study. ... Bowl of Hygeia Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον = drug) is the profession charged with ensuring the safe use of medication. ...

In 1951, Henry was a founding member of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). The main instigator and head of the organization was Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a prominent black surgeon, fraternal organization leader, and entrepreneur in the all-black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) was probably the leading civil rights organization in Mississippi during the early 1950s. ... Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard (T.R.M. Howard) (March 4, 1908 —- May 1, 1976) was an African American civil rights leader, fraternal organization leader, surgeon, and entrepreneur. ... Mound Bayou is a city located in Bolivar County, Mississippi. ...

The RCNL promoted a program of civil rights, voting rights, self-help, and business ownership. Instead of starting from the “grass roots," it sought to “reach the masses through their chosen leaders” by harnessing the talents of blacks with a proven record in business, the professions, education, and the church. Henry headed the RCNL's committee on "separate but equal" which zeroed in on the need to guarantee the "equal."

Other key members of the RCNL included Amzie Moore, a NAACP activist and gas station owner from Cleveland, Mississippi and Medgar Evers, who sold insurance for Dr. Howard in Mound Bayou. Henry aided the RCNL's boycott of service stations that failed to provide restrooms for blacks. As part of this campaign, the RCNL distributed an estimated twenty thousand bumper stickers with the slogan “Don’t Buy Gas Where You Can’t Use the Rest Room." Beginning in 1953, it directly challenged separate but equal and demanded integration of schools. Amzie Moore (September 23, 1911 —- ) was an African American, civil rights leader, and entrepreneur in the Mississippi Delta. ... Cleveland is a city located in Bolivar County, Mississippi. ... Medgar Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi. ...

Henry was a participant in the RCNL’s annual meetings in Mound Bayou between 1952 and 1955. These often attracted crowds of over ten thousand.

While Henry remained active in the RCNL until its demise in the early 1960s, he also joined the Mississippi branch of the NAACP in 1954 eventually becoming state president in 1959. He started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). In 1961 he organized a boycott of stores in the Clarksdale, Mississippi area that discriminated against African Americans both as customers and employees. He chaired delegations of Loyalist Democrats to the 1968 and 1972 Democratic National Conventions. He was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1982, holding the seat until 1996. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was an American political party created in the state of Mississippi in 1964, during the civil rights movement. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... A boycott is an action undertaken to abstain from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organisation as an expression of protest or as a means of coercion. ... Clarksdale is a city located in Coahoma County, Mississippi. ... This article is about discrimination in the social science sense. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A chair or seat is also a seat of office, authority, or dignity, such as the chairperson of a committee, or a professorship at a college or university, or the individual that presides over business proceedings. ... A delegate is an individual (or a member of a group called a delegation) who represents the interests of a larger organization (e. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Featured at the Democratic National Convention are speeches by prominent party figures. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... The Mississippi House of Representatives , in American politics, is the lower house of the state legislature of Mississippi. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

References

• David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito, T.R.M. Howard: Pragmatism over Strict Integrationist Ideology in the Mississippi Delta, 1942-1954 in Glenn E. Feldman, ed., Before Brown: Civil Rights and White Backlash in the Modern South (2004 book), 68-95.
• John Dittmer, Local People: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (1994 book).
• Charles M. Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle (1995 book).

External Links

• The African American Registry