A. Philip Randolph
Black American civil rights activist, labor unionist, politician (1889-1979) · United States · On the map · Activists · Died at 90
Asa Philip Randolph was an American railwayman, trade unionist and civil rights activist. In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African-American-led labor union. In the early Civil Rights Movement and the Labor Movement, Randolph was a prominent voice.
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Photos 8
Randolph c. 1917
Painting by Betsy Graves Reyneau
Randolph in 1942.
Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963.
Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, D.C. Randolph is seated center.
Randolph receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 from President Lyndon B. Johnson.
A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, ChicagoAwards
About this person
His continuous agitation with the support of fellow labor rights activists against racist labor practices helped lead President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802 in 1941, banning discrimination in the defense industries during World War II. The group then successfully maintained pressure, so that President Harry S. Truman proposed a new Civil Rights Act and issued Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 in 1948, promoting fair employment and anti-discrimination policies in federal government hiring, and ending racial segregation in the armed services.
