The award, consisting of a gold medal, was created by Joel Elias Spingarn, Chairman of the Board of the NAACP in 1914. It was first given in 1915, and each year thereafter, with the exception of 1938.
Winners of the award include: W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr, Langston Hughes, Sammy Davis, Jr, Alex Haley, Andrew Young, Rosa Parks, Coleman Young, Lena Horne, Bill Cosby, Jr, Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Maya Angelou, and Oprah Winfrey.