Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Ernest Hamlin Baker
Taken: Circa 1945
Caption: A. Philip Randolph
Additional Description: This c. 1945 portrait of A. Philip Randolph by Ernest Hamlin Baker hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“Civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph waged a lifelong battle for the economic empowerment of African Americans. In 1925, he accepted the challenge of organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters -- the first black labor union chartered by the American Federation of Labor. Continuing his advocacy for African American workers, Randolph called for a march on Washington in 1941 to protest the exclusion of blacks from defense industry jobs. He canceled that march only after President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) signed an order mandating an end to discriminatory practices by government contractors.

Following World War II, Randolph led the effort to desegregate the nation’s armed forces and waged a civil disobedience campaign against the draft until President Harry Truman (1884-1972) ordered an end to segregation in the military in 1948. Randolph crowned his career in 1963 by helping to organize the celebrated March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” – National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: March 3, 2019, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p465800
File Size: 1.759 Megabytes

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