THE DUBUQUE BRANCH NAACP was chartered in 1989. Ralph Watkins, of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, convened the first unofficial meeting at First Baptist Church in late 1988 and 65-70 people attended this meeting. By the new year, 100 members had been enrolled, so the group could be chartered by NAACP. The Dubuque Branch began its regular monthly meetings in January 1989 in the basement of St. Mark Community Center. It then moved to Peters Commons on the University of Dubuque campus. Since 2014, meetings have been held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the Multicultural Family Center in the Ruby Sutton Building, so named in 2016. The first Dubuque NAACP Freedom Fund banquet was held November 1989 at Hoffman House. The guest speaker was President of the Iowa/Nebraska State Conference Ruth Anderson and an award was given to Ruby Sutton. This has become the annual Ruby Sutton Award, given to persons who have made special contributions to the work and ideals of the branch. Past Freedom Fund speakers have included Rev. C. T. Vivian, Rev. George Clements, Archbishop Daniel Kucera, and Larry Carter of the Des Moines Branch NAACP. In 1993, a special award was given posthumously to Hazel O'Neill for her dedication and work in the Dubuque Community School District. Over the years, Dubuque NAACP has been actively involved in community affairs. lts members have supported efforts promoting multicultural non-sexist education, established the Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute, supported the establishment of the Dubuque Council for Diversity and worked with the City of Dubuque and the Dubuque Human Rights Commission to establish the Dubuque Community Police Relations Committee / Dubuque Community City Relations Committee for handling cases of discrimination and harassment.
