Local NAACP leaders were among those celebrating the 100th anniversary of the national civil rights organization in New York this week.

A group of Denton residents, including Denton County NAACP president Catherine Bell, attended the organization’s centennial convention, which ended Thursday night with a speech by President Obama.

Denton resident Betty Kimble, a former Denton County NAACP treasurer and a veteran of national conventions, said a distinct sense of pride ran through this year’s gathering.

“You feel good about the convention; you feel good that Obama is president,” Kimble said by phone from her New York hotel room Thursday afternoon. “This is history in the making and I’m seeing it, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

The Denton group also included Dorothy Minter, Val Morgan and Beverly Williams, the widow of Carl Williams, longtime leader of the Denton County NAACP.

Highlights of the convention included speeches by New York Gov. David A. Paterson, which Kimble described as fantastic, and Benjamin Hooks, a Baptist preacher and former NAACP executive director, who Kimble said “tore the house down!”

But as an “observer,” rather than a delegate to the convention, Kimble said she didn’t expect to be inside the convention hall for the president’s speech.

“There’s so many people,” she said, adding that she planned to watch the address on television. “So much in the world is going on now, and with Obama being the president, that’s some of the cause of [more] people being here.”

The six-day convention also featured workshops on topics including civil rights, social justice and voter registration and education. Founded in 1909, the NAACP is considered the country’s oldest and largest civil rights organization.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.