The Negro Organization Society was a grassroots advocacy association that stressed community self-improvement for African Americans in Virginia during the Jim Crow era. Founded in 1912 at the Hampton Institute by Robert Russa Moton, its motto was "Better Schools, Better Health, Better Homes, Better Farms." Pursuit of these four goals was considered essential to the protection and welfare of black citizens, especially in rural areas where the great majority of Virginia's African Americans lived. Over the years, the organization's actions shifted from building schools to improving education by accrediting more institutions and improving teacher pay.
The Negro Organization Society was a grassroots advocacy association that stressed community self-improvement for African Americans in Virginia during the Jim Crow era. Founded in 1912 at the Hampton Institute by Robert Russa Moton, its motto was "Better Schools, Better Health, Better Homes, Better Farms." Pursuit of these four goals was considered essential to the protection and welfare of black citizens, especially in rural areas where the great majority of Virginia's African Americans lived. Over the years, the organization's actions shifted from building schools to improving education by accrediting more institutions and improving teacher pay.