Spingarn Medal Winners

Historical Accolades

Awarded by the NAACP

This Category is Ranked. Sort by Ranking Based on Votes by clicking on Vote Ranking. Sort by the Collection's Ranking by clicking on List Ranking.

Vote RankingList Ranking  

64

0

Joel Elias Spingarn

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

29

1916

Charles Young

Military Personnel

28.57% (2 of 7 votes)

50

1920

W.E.B. Du Bois

Advocate

0% (0 of 1 votes)

12

1921

Charles Gilpin

Actor

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

49

1923

George Washington Carver

Inventor

0% (0 of 3 votes)

44

1925

James Weldon Johnson

Poet

0% (0 of 0 votes)

60

1926

Carter G. Woodson

Author

0% (0 of 1 votes)

38

1935

Mary McLeod Bethune

Educator

0% (0 of 2 votes)

39

1937

Walter White

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

24

1939

Marian Anderson

Vocalist

33.75% (27 of 80 votes)

14

1941

Richard Wright (Novelist)

Author

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

4

1942

A. Philip Randolph

Advocate

100% (1 of 1 votes)

46

1944

Charles R. Drew

Doctor

0% (0 of 2 votes)

31

1945

Paul Robeson

Actor

24.29% (43 of 177 votes)

21

1946

Thurgood Marshall

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

42.06% (53 of 126 votes)

16

1949

Ralph Bunche

Diplomat

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

42

1953

Paul Revere Williams

Architect

0% (0 of 2 votes)

11

1956

Jackie Robinson

Baseball Player

52.61% (121 of 230 votes)

28

1957

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Advocate

29.61% (106 of 358 votes)

36

1958

Little Rock Nine

Advocate

0% (0 of 6 votes)

33

1959

Duke Ellington

Musician

11.11% (2 of 18 votes)

55

1960

Langston Hughes

Poet

0% (0 of 0 votes)

52

1963

Medgar Evers

Advocate

0% (0 of 6 votes)

5

1964

Roy Wilkins

Advocate

100% (1 of 1 votes)

57

1965

Leontyne Price

Vocalist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

48

1966

John H. Johnson

Publisher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

43

1967

Ed Brooke

U.S. Senator

0% (0 of 1 votes)

22

1968

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Vocalist

42.00% (42 of 100 votes)

45

1972

Gordon Parks

Photographer

0% (0 of 1 votes)

26

1975

Hank Aaron

Baseball Player

33.01% (34 of 103 votes)

34

1976

Alvin Ailey

Choreographer

11.11% (2 of 18 votes)

6

1977

Alex Haley

Author

66.67% (4 of 6 votes)

19

1978

Andrew Young, Jr.

U.S. Congressman

44.44% (4 of 9 votes)

27

1979

Rosa Parks

Advocate

30.08% (40 of 133 votes)

2

1981

Coleman Young

Mayor

100% (2 of 2 votes)

30

1983

Lena Horne

Vocalist

26.67% (12 of 45 votes)

37

1984

Tom Bradley

Mayor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

9

1985

Bill Cosby

Comedian

58.99% (397 of 673 votes)

53

1986

Benjamin Hooks

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

59

1987

Percy Sutton

Advocate

0% (0 of 6 votes)

23

1989

Jesse Jackson

Advocate

35.36% (93 of 263 votes)

58

1990

Douglas Wilder

U.S. Governor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

17

1991

Colin Powell

U.S. Secretary of State

47.62% (10 of 21 votes)

47

1992

Barbara Jordan

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 3 votes)

56

1993

Dorothy Height

Advocate

0% (0 of 1 votes)

20

1994

Maya Angelou

Poet

43.75% (21 of 48 votes)

32

1997

Carl Rowan

Commentator

16.67% (1 of 6 votes)

51

1998

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

8

2000

Oprah Winfrey

TV Personality

61.61% (207 of 336 votes)

15

2001

Vernon Jordan, Jr.

Advocate

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

10

2002

John Lewis

U.S. Congressman

54.84% (17 of 31 votes)

18

2003

Constance Baker Motley

Judge

46.15% (6 of 13 votes)

13

2006

Ben Carson

Doctor

50.0% (58 of 116 votes)

41

2007

John Conyers

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 2 votes)

40

2008

Ruby Dee

Actress

0% (0 of 7 votes)

25

2009

Julian Bond

Politician

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

3

2010

Cicely Tyson

Actress

100% (1 of 1 votes)

61

2012

Harry Belafonte

Vocalist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

62

2013

Jessye Norman

Vocalist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

63

2014

Quincy Jones

Composer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

35

2015

Sidney Poitier

Actor

7.69% (1 of 13 votes)

1

2016

Nathaniel R. Jones

Judge

100% (1 of 1 votes)

54

2018

Willie Brown

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

7

2022

Jim Clyburn

U.S. Congressman

64.29% (18 of 28 votes)