8 o'clock p. m., with open or secret meetings at the discretion of the league.
4. This branch league shall be subject to the laws hereafter made by the national Afro-American league.
With this published, and the rapid formation of branch leagues in many states, the desire for a national call grew greater and greater. The newspapers were loud in their demands, in response to which the following call was issued November 4, 1890:
To the Colored Citizens of the Republic: Being convinced that the time is ripe for the organization of the National Afro-American League, proposed by me two years ago, to successfully combat the denial of our Constitutional and inherent rights, so generally denied or abridged throughout the Republic, and being urged to do so by members of branch leagues all over the country, I, by these presents, issue a call to all the branches of the Afro-American League, and invite all clubs and societies organized to secure the rights of the race, to meet by their representatives in National Convention at Chicago, Ill., Wednesday, January 15, 1890, for the purpose of organizing a National Afro-American League; the basis of Representation to be four delegates for every one hundred members, or one delegate for every twenty-five members, constituting the branch league, club or society, desiring to co-operate in the movement for National organization.
Correspondence from all organizations desiring to join in this movement is requested.
Very respectfully,
T. Thomas Fortune.
New York, November 4, 1889.
Concurring in this call:
Alexander Walters of New York,
J. Gordon Street of Massachusetts,
