ASA PHILIP RANDOLPH
Oil, about 1972, 44 x 30 inches
Asa Philip Randolph,
labor leader, was born in 1889 in Florida. After high school,
he went to New York City and studied at City College. He was active
in the Socialist party, and in 1925 he organized the Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters. From that position of power he was influential
in the formation of the Fair Employment Practices Committee. During
these New Deal years, he threatened a march on Washington by a
hundred thousand black people, to protest discrimination in the
defense industries. He opposed discrimination also in the armed
forces, and in 1955 he became a member of the AFL-CIO executive
council. Two years later he was a vice president and in regular
opposition to George Meany, the union leader who was lukewarm
on civil rights in the unions.
It was during this active period that he was called the "most
dangerous Negro in America" by those who feared his power.
He was an organizer of the August 1963 march on Washington, sharing
leadership responsibilities with Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and James Farmer. In later
years his socialism became more moderate and he became active
in the Urban League and the Liberal party. To carry out his commitment
to his causes, he founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute, symbolizing
the power of the black worker. He died in 1979, recognized for
his many solid contributions to the civil rights movement.
The African History
home page contains additional biographical information about Asa
Phillip Randolph and other individuals portrayed in this exhibit.
