Walter Francis White
Walter Francis White was an African American journalist and civil rights leader who served as NAACP executive secretary from 1931 to 1955.
Born in Atlanta in 1893 to middle-class parents, he graduated from Atlanta University in 1916.
Despite having blue eyes, blonde hair, and white skin—with only five of thirty-two great-great-great-grandparents being black—White identified as African American.
He used his appearance to investigate 41 lynchings and eight race riots by "passing" as white.
Under his leadership, the NAACP established the Legal Defense Fund, quintupled membership to 500,000, and achieved major victories including Brown v.
Board of Education and military desegregation.
