Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1865, just three days before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Mary White Ovington grew up imbued with the spirit of abolition and surrounded by reminders of the catastrophe of slavery. A precocious and unusually perceptive child, she viewed her comfortable, upper middle-class childhood as merely a happy accident of birth and was struck by the contrast between her own healthy, nurturing life and the lives of the black poor and disenfranchised.

Her developing awareness of the power of race and class in America would become the driving force in her life. After attending Radcliffe and the Harvard Annex for Women, Ovington did not follow the expected paths of young women of her time, neither marrying nor staying at home to look after her parents. The independent-minded Ovington was in search of a career and a cause. She found both while attending a Social Reform Club event where Booker T. Washington spoke about "the Negro Problem.".

In 1909, the NAACP was born with the issuing of "The Call" - coauthored by Ovington - on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. With Ovington as acting Chairman and Chairman from 1917 to 1932, the NAACP grew from a small, mostly white volunteer staff to a predominantly black organization run by a salaried staff.

Inheritors of the Spirit opens a wide window on the inner life of the NAACP, tracing its evolution from a virtual one-man show under W. E. B. DuBois through the unflappable stewardship of James Weldon Johnson and the brilliant operational leadership of Walter White. Carolyn Wedin's extensive research sheds new light on the shifting allegiances and internal power struggles within the movement, including Ovington's work to empower women and explore the dynamics of the debate on class versus race.

Drawing on a wide range of both public and private sources, Wedin provides a rich cultural and historical context, illuminating an era of great social upheaval and the remarkable, fiercely committed woman who dedicated her life to bring it about.