Randolph, A. Philip (1889-1979), played a leading role in the struggle for black rights from the 1920’s through the 1960’s. He also became an important figure in the American labor movement. In 1925, Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (now part of the Transportation Communications International Union), a union he headed until 1968. He became a vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in 1957.
Asa Philip Randolph was born in Crescent City, Florida, on April 15, 1889. He moved to New York City as a young man. He held odd jobs during the day and attended City College of New York at night. A Socialist during World War I (1914-1918), Randolph later believed unions offered African Americans the best hope for a fair wage. A group of Pullman car porters asked him to organize and lead a union for them. In 1941, Randolph threatened a march on Washington, D.C., to demand jobs for blacks in defense industries. The threat was one reason why President Franklin D. Roosevelt set up the Fair Employment Practices Committee. Randolph won the Spingarn Medal in 1942. He was one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, which protested racial and economic injustice. He died on May 16, 1979.
