- In full:
- Asa Philip Randolph
- Born:
- April 15, 1889, Crescent City, Florida, U.S.
A. Philip Randolph
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Who was A. Philip Randolph?
A. Philip Randolph (1889–1979) was a prominent civil rights and trade union leader who championed justice and equality for African Americans. In 1925, he founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American labor union to join the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
Randolph organized a march on Washington, D.C., that led to President Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing Executive Order 8802 in 1941, which banned discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus. He also founded the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, which resulted in President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948, ending racial segregation in the armed forces.
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What is A. Philip Randolph best known for?
As a trade unionist and civil-rights leader, A. Philip Randolph (1889–1979) was an influential figure in the struggle for justice and equality for African Americans.
Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, building the first successful Black trade union, and he took his union into the American Federation of Labor (AFL) at a time when half of the AFL affiliates barred African Americans from membership.
In 1941, Randolph threatened Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt with a protest march on Washington, D.C., which led to Executive Order 8802, barring discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus and creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee. Randolph also founded the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, resulting in Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which banned racial segregation in the armed forces.
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How did A. Philip Randolph work to improve the rights of African Americans?
A. Philip Randolph was a trade unionist and civil-rights leader who was an influential figure in the struggle for justice and equality for African Americans.
Randolph co-founded The Messenger magazine in 1917, advocating for more positions for Black workers in the war industry and the armed forces. As president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, he organized Black workers and affiliated his union with the American Federation of Labor (AFL), despite its discriminatory practices. In 1941, Randolph threatened a march on Washington, D.C., leading President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, which barred discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus and created the Fair Employment Practices Committee. After World War II, Randolph founded the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, resulting in President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981, which banned racial segregation in the armed forces.
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What major labor union did A. Philip Randolph help organize?
A. Philip Randolph was the founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP). In 1925, he started organizing this group of Black workers and took his union into the American Federation of Labor (AFL), despite the fact that half of the AFL's affiliates barred African Americans from membership at the time. Despite opposition, he built the first successful Black trade union, and in 1937, the brotherhood secured its first major contract with the Pullman Company. The BSCP aimed to improve the working conditions and treatment of African American railroad porters and maids employed by the Pullman Company.
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How did A. Philip Randolph contribute to the civil rights movement during World War II?
During World War II, A. Philip Randolph significantly contributed to the civil rights movement by fighting for equality in employment for African Americans. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed little interest in civil rights, Randolph threatened to organize a large march on Washington, D.C..
To appease Randolph and other civil rights leaders, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which barred discrimination in the U.S. defense industry based on race, color, or national origin. The order also established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). Although the FEPC lacked enforcement powers, it symbolized a commitment to nondiscrimination and set a precedent for future civil rights achievements. In 1963, Randolph organized the March on Washington to demonstrate support for civil rights for Black Americans.
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What impact did A. Philip Randolph have on later civil rights leaders and movements?
A. Philip Randolph was an influential civil rights leader and trade unionist who fought for justice and equality for African Americans. As a generation older than the core activists of the 1950s and 60s, Randolph gave his wisdom to younger organizers. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to him as the "Dean of Negro leaders".
Randolph's work with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the March on Washington, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute set the stage for later civil rights movements.
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A. Philip Randolph (born April 15, 1889, Crescent City, Florida, U.S.—died May 16, 1979, New York, New York) was a trade unionist and civil-rights leader who was an influential figure in the struggle for justice and equality for African Americans.
The son of a Methodist minister, Randolph moved to the Harlem district of New York City in 1911. He attended City College at night and, with Chandler Owen, established (1912) an employment agency through which he attempted to organize Black workers. In 1917, following the entry of the United States into World War I, the two men founded a magazine, The Messenger (after 1929, Black Worker), that called for more positions for Black workers in the war industry and the armed forces. After the war, Randolph lectured at New York’s Rand School of Social Science and ran unsuccessfully for offices on the Socialist Party ticket.
In 1925, as founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Randolph began organizing that group of Black workers and, at a time when half the affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred African Americans from membership, took his union into the AFL. Despite opposition, he built the first successful Black trade union; the brotherhood won its first major contract with the Pullman Company in 1937. The following year, Randolph removed his union from the AFL in protest against its failure to fight discrimination in its ranks and took the brotherhood into the newly formed Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). He then returned to the question of Black employment in the federal government and in industries with federal contracts. He warned Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt that he would lead thousands of Black Americans in a protest march on Washington, D.C.; Roosevelt, on June 25, 1941, issued Executive Order 8802, barring discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus and creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee. After World War II, Randolph founded the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, resulting in the issue by Pres. Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1948, of Executive Order 9981, banning racial segregation in the armed forces.
When the AFL merged with the CIO in 1955, Randolph was made a vice president and member of the executive council of the combined organization. He was the first president (1960–66) of the Negro American Labor Council, formed by Randolph and others to fight discrimination within the AFL-CIO.
In an echo of his activities of 1941, Randolph was a director of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which brought more than 200,000 persons to the capital on August 28, 1963, to demonstrate support for civil rights for Black Americans. Two years later, he formed the A. Philip Randolph Institute for community leaders to study the causes of poverty. Suffering chronic illness, he resigned his presidency of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1968 and retired from public life.