Roy Wilkins was a prominent civil rights leader and longtime executive director of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Born on August 30, 1901, in St. Louis, Missouri, he became a key figure in the fight for racial equality in the 20th century. Wilkins joined the NAACP in the 1930s and served as its executive director from 1955 to 1977. He advocated for legal challenges to segregation and played a vital role in the passage of major civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A strong proponent of nonviolence and gradual reform, Wilkins also helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. He died on September 8, 1981.