Page 24 - Juneteenth Booklet 2022 Finale

A. Philip Randolph, Asa Philip Randolph

Born April 15, 1889, Crescent City, Florida—died May 16, 1979. Trade un-
ionist and civil rights leader who was a dedicated and persistent leader in
the struggle for justice and parity for the black American community.

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 barred blacks
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.

He warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt that he would lead thousands
of blacks in a protest march on Washington, D.C.; Roosevelt, on June 25,
1941, issued Executive Order 8802, barring discrimination in defense in-
dustries 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 Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1948, of Executive Order 9981, banning
segregation in the armed forces.

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 Aug. 28, 1963, to demonstrate support for civil-
rights policies for blacks.

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