The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights

Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Friday, Jan. 16, 2026 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2

“The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights” is a one-hour documentary focused on the formation and impact of the first civil rights movement of the 20th century. The program traces the social and economic conditions of African Americans at the turn of the 20th century, examines the different strategies for racial advancement led by Black leaders of the time, explores the creation of the Niagara Movement, and places the movement's legacy into a contemporary context.

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W. E. B. Du Bois (undated)

The New York Public Library

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Booker T. Washington (undated)

Library of Congress

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Booker T. Washington (undated)

Library of Congress

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Booker T. Washington

Library of Congress

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The film explores the Black elite and intellectual society at the turn of the 20th century and examines the heated national debate and conflict three Black leaders — sociologist W.E.B Du Bois, publisher William Monroe Trotter and educator and orator Booker T. Washington.

W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries

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Great Barrington High School, Class of 1884.

W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries

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W. E. B. Du Bois, Boston, 1907, in Boston, Summer 1907 in conjunction with 3rd Annual Meeting of Niagara Movement.

W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries

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Young Uncle Monroe (undated)

Peggy Preacely

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W.E.B. Du Bois, Harvard College Class of 1890.

Harvard University Archives

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William Monroe Trotter

Harvard University Archives

Credits: Presented by Buffalo Toronto Public Media. Distributed by American Public Television.