Black labor movement leader, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and later a key figure in the civil rights movement, Asa Philip Randolph believed that the key to black progress rested in the black working class. Thus, throughout most of his life he worked to help the black working class and sought to end discrimination.
Born and raised in Crescent City, Florida, A. Philip Randolph was the son of a minister. In 1911, Randolph moved to New York City where he began attending City College at night and worked during the day. As Randolph developed intellectually, he began to believe that the black working class was crucial to black progress. Therefore, in 1912, Randolph and his friend Chandler Owen founded an employment agency. Through the organization he attempted to organize black workers.
In 1917, Randolph and Owen founded the magazine The Messenger. In it, the magazine covered such issues as calling for more opportunities for blacks in the military and it was also used as a forum to criticize the ideas of President Woodrow Wilson, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Randolph eventually saw the need for organizing black workers. Because many affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred blacks from membership, in 1925, Randolph founded and served as President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Through the organization, Randolph was able to secure a railroad contract with the Pullman Company in 1937.
After the successful negotiation of the porters contract, in 1938, Randolph put pressure on President Franklin D. Roosevelt to end discrimination in the employment of blacks in the federal government. Randolph began organizing blacks to march on Washington in protest. On June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt responded by issuing Executive Order 8802, which barred discrimination in defense industries.
Randolph was successful again when another Executive Order (9981) was issued on July 26, 1948 after he had pushed for the banning of segregation in the military through his organization, the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation.
In 1955, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the AFL merged and became the AFL-CIO, Randolph became vice president.
As the civil rights movement gained momentum, Randolph became involved. In 1963, Randolph along with Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington. At the march, 250,000 blacks and whites marched in support of civil rights.
In 1968, Randolph’s health began to deteriorate and he became less active. He died on May 16, 1979.
