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Baltimore branch reproduce the traditional structures of the pre-1930 freedom
movement of the region; to what degree did it reflect national trends; to what
degree was it shaped by the legacy of the local movement of the early 1930s?
Answers to these questions will be sought in three areas: the mass and class
character of the branch; the role of women in the branch; the nature of the branch's
top leadership.

The first thing to note is that the renovated NAACP was a truly mass
organization based in a broad constituency. The branch's membership figures
alone are convincing on this count. Additionally, the branch was at the center of at
a web of mass organizations (the protective leagues, the state conference of
branches). And the branch had a strong relationship to not only to key mass-based
institutions in the Black community - above all the churches — but to the rank-and-
flle constituencies of these institutions: NAACP activists (above all, LJllie Jackson)
would simply show up at Sunday morning services and, upon request, be ushered to
the pulpit to make an announcement or speech.'^

The Baltimore NAACP did not allow its base of support to remain passive,
but attempted to engage and mobilize it in a number of ways. There were, of
course periodic petitions, rallies and demonstrations, although in the late 1930s
these were not frequent. The annual membership drives, however, while not
political protests as such, were broad membership mobilizations, as were the
Christmas seal sales; in both cases, fundraising was defined politically and
combined with political education. Moreover, the branch paid attention to the
mass education of its base in other ways. Every third Sunday at 3 p.m. at Sharp
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, the branch held an educational mass meeting,
often bringing speakers from outside Baltimore.

These mass educational meetings were considered by the branch leadership
to be important branch activities. Juanita Jacks en Mitchell recently recalled that