NAACP’s Historic Magazine, “The Crisis,” Digital Archives Now Available Online via ProQuest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2026
Contact: Chyna Fields, cfields@naacpnet.org
Expanded digital access deepens scholarship, teaching, and learning as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Black History Month and the NAACP's 117th Anniversary in February
BALTIMORE — The NAACP today announced that The Crisis, the Association's historic magazine and one of the most influential publications in Black history, is now available digitally to libraries worldwide through ProQuest, part of Clarivate. The widespread availability is part of the NAACP's celebration of the 100th Black History Month and the Association's 117th Founder's Day this month.
The newly digitized collection spans 1910 – 2020, offering unprecedented access to a publication that helped shape national conversations on race, culture, and civil rights for more than a century.
Founded and edited by civil rights activist, sociologist, and writer, W.E.B. Du Bois, The Crisis was envisioned as a platform for unknown writers to publish unheard of stories.
The Pink Franklin case was one of the first NAACP cases The Crisis covered. Pink Franklin, a Black South Carolina sharecropper, was sentenced to death under a law resembling debt servitude, despite serious constitutional and racial concerns. Coverage of Franklin's case marked The Crisis as a powerful voice in the emerging civil rights movement. After years of advocacy by the NAACP and its allies, Franklin's sentence was commuted, and he was paroled in 1919.
Now, students, educators, and researchers around the world can engage with that history right at Black History Month and beyond.
"This collaboration ensures that The Crisis, the cherished publication of the NAACP, is preserved and accessible for those seeking to understand the full scope of Black resistance, resilience, and intellectual leadership," said India Artis, Manager of NAACP Archives. "By expanding digital access, we are honoring the past while empowering new scholarship that connects historical struggle to today's pursuit of justice."
The digitized archive represents a significant expansion of the long-standing partnership between the NAACP and ProQuest. Building on the NAACP Papers already available in ProQuest Digital Collections, The Crisis adds essential public-facing context to internal organizational records. With its inclusion in ProQuest One Black Studies, ProQuest One History, and ProQuest History Vault, all part of ProQuest Digital Collections, institutions now have access to the editorial voice that helped define its mission.
Through this expanded digital archive, the NAACP and ProQuest are making it easier than ever to research, teach, and learn that Black history is American history, ensuring that the stories, ideas, and advocacy that shaped the civil rights movement remain accessible to future generations.
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About NAACP
The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st-century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.
NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF - was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.