The Colored Citizens Protective League (CCPL) was established in Falls Church, Virginia in 1915 to advocate against proposed town ordinances to restrict areas where African Americans could live.
Founded in 1915 by Joseph Tinner, Edwin B. Henderson and other African American community leaders, the Colored Citizens Protective League was organized to combat racial segregation in Falls Church.
Following a law passed in 1912 by the Virginia legislature giving cities and towns the right to racially segregate residents, Falls Church adopted ordinances in 1915 restricting where African American could live and own property.
[1][2] The CCPL protested the ordinance and submitted petitions signed by both African American and white residents, business owners and church leaders.
They continued their efforts to delay enforcement until such ordinances became unconstitutional due to the 1917 Supreme Court decision in the Buchanan v. Warley case, ruling states and municipalities could not create segregation districts.