Hope joined W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter, northern activists, as founders of the Niagara Movement to work for civil rights for Blacks. He was also active in the succeeding organization, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, and became considered a national race leader. He supported full civil rights for Blacks and promoted college education, becoming known for that as Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute was known for vocation education. Hope and Du Bois both agreed that Blacks must have the chance for full academic education to develop leaders for their people.