On the eve of hosting the Democratic National Convention, Chicago is preparing for the return of another storied and well-traveled convention after decades in other cities.
The NAACP National Convention will hold its 117th annual gathering in Chicago in July 2026, the civil rights organization and the city announced Sunday.
Chicago was previously the site of the NAACP convention in 1926 and most recently in 1994, when some 40,000 attendees saw then-President Bill Clinton as a featured speaker. Two years later, Clinton would return to Chicago for the 1996 DNC, where he was nominated for his second term as president.
The NAACP announcement comes with all eyes on Chicago as the DNC runs for four nights at the United Center, culminating with the formal acceptance speech Thursday by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate.
“As we celebrate a pivotal moment in Black history this week, we remain focused on our mission to advance Black culture and support the Black community,” Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, said in a news release. “Chicago sits at the intersection of Black history, and Black future.”
The 2024 NAACP convention was held last month in Las Vegas, where President Joe Biden spoke – days before dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Harris.
Next summer’s NAACP event is scheduled for Charlotte, while the 2027 convention will be held in Long Beach, California. In recent years, the five-day convention has drawn around 10,000 attendees, but officials are hoping the return to Chicago will boost that number in 2026.
With 15,000 journalists and every major cable news and TV network in Chicago this week to cover the DNC, it may be propitious timing for the NAACP convention announcement.
“As a city rooted in Black history and committed to carrying forward the values of the NAACP in all that we do, there is no better place than Chicago for this historic event,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in the release.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909 in the wake of a race riot in Springfield, Illinois spurred by a white lynch mob that destroyed dozens of Black-owned businesses and residences, killing several Black men during two days of violence and arson in August 1908.
On Friday, President Biden designated the site of the Springfield 1908 Race Riot as a national monument.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com