PART I: THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION AND THE BLACK WORKER, 1935–1940
THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS AND BLACK WORKERS
1. Unity, by Len Zinberg
2. Alabama Mine Strike Firm, by Beth McHenry
3. Black Worker Lauds Thomas as Champion of Negro Cause
6. C.I.O. Auto Union Will Not Tolerate Discrimination, by Ben Davis, Jr.
7. Interview With Henry Johnson, 1937
8. Negro, White Workers Join in Va. Strike, by Alexander Wright
10. C.I.O. Drives Bring Hopeful Dawn for Negro Labor, by Ben Davis, Jr.
11. Union Agreement Results in Higher Wages
13. Selling Out the Workers, by A. J. Allen
14. Committee Attacks IRT Negro Discrimination
15. We Win the Right to Fight for Jobs, by John A. Davis
16. Negroes Urged for Wage-Hour Boards
17. The CIO Convention and the Negro People, by Alan Max
19. Walter Hardin—Leader in Negroes’ Fight for Justice, by Swanson C. Shields
20. John L. Lewis on the Poll Tax
21. Colored People to Hear President Lewis
22. Lewis Tells Negro Group: U.S. Must Avoid War Solve Own Problems
23. The Labor Reader: The Negro and the CIO, by C. W. Fowler
24. Negroes Should Join the CIO, Says Paul Robeson
25. The CIO and the Negro Worker
STEEL WORKERS’ ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
26. Negroes Back CIO Steel Drive, by Ben Davis, Jr.
27. Negro Leaders to Issue Call to 100,000 in Industry, by Adam Lapin
28. Negro and White Stick—Steel Lockout Fails
29. Negro Group in Steel Drive to Hold Parley
30. Negro America Acts to Build Steel Union, by Adam Lapin
31. Negroes Pledge Aid to Steel Drive, by Ben Careathers
33. Resolutions Passed by the Steel Workers Organizing Committee Convention, 1937
35. Schuyler Visits Steel Centers in Ohio and Pennsylvania, by George S. Schuyler
36. Negro Workers Lead in Great Lakes Steel Drive, by George S. Schuyler
37. Virginia and Maryland Negroes Flock to Unions, by George S. Schuyler
38. Schuyler Finds Philadelphia Negroes Are Rallying to “New Deal” Call, by George S. Schuyler
39. Harlem Boasts 42,000 Negro Labor Unionists, by George S. Schuyler
40. Detroit Awaiting Ford Crisis, by George S. Schuyler
41. Union Drive Slows in Border Cities: Leaders Hostile, by George S. Schuyler
42. Industrial South Shaky . . . Many Negro Officers in Dixie Steel Unions, by George S. Schuyler
43. The Negro in “Little Steel,” by Romare Bearden
44. Negro Women in Steel, by Mollie V. Lewis
45. Noel R. Beddow to Charles E. Fell, November 29, 1938
46. Resolutions Passed by the Steel Workers Organizing Committee Convention, 1940
47. Steel Drive Moves Colored People into Action!
48. The Story of Ben Careathers, by Phillip Bonosky
49. Negro-White Pickets March in Richmond
50. Victory of Negro Tobacco Workers Jolts Bourbonism
51. A New Deal for Tobacco Workers, by Augusta V. Jackson
53. Sound Advice From An Old Colored Brother on Unions, by James E. Jackson, Jr.
54. Negro, White Stand Solid in Dock Strike
55. Labor Gains on Coast, by Ford Bellson
56. Should the “Forgotten Men of the Sea” Stay Ashore? by Robert C. Francis
57. Negro and White Unity Won Boston Ship Strike, by J. Lambert
58. Harlem Rally to Support Ship Strike
59. Harlem Group Rally to Aid Ship Strikes
60. Negro’s Stake in Sea Strike Parley’s Topic
61. Protecting the Negro Seaman, by Ferdinand C. Smith
62. Paul Robeson Speech at the National Maritime Union Convention
63. Martel Will Address National Negro Congress, by Milton Howard
64. Randolph Says Hope of Negro People Lies in Unity With Labor
65. Negro Congress Must Strengthen Its Trade Union Base, by Ben Davis, Jr.
66. Union Drive to Organize Negro Workers is Asked
67. The National Negro Congress: An Interpretation, by Lester B. Granger
68. CIO Council Heads Named in Philadelphia
69. Negro Congress Gets Support From CIO
70. Negro Congress Calls for United Labor Movement in Closing Season, by Ben Davis, Jr.
71. Negro Congress Will Give Weight to Union Drives, Randolph Says
72. Committee For Industrial Organization
73. Harlem Unions Back National Negro Congress
74. Roosevelt Greets Negro Congress, by Ben Davis, Jr.
75. Kennedy Speaker at the Negro Congress
76. Brophy Raps Lynching at Negro Parley
77. President Lewis Discusses Major U.S. Issues at National Negro Congress
78. Lewis Invites National Negro Congress to Join Labor League, by C. W. Fowler
79. The National Negro Congress—Its Future by Lester B. Granger
PART II: THE SOUTHERN TENANT FARMERS’ UNION
1. Southern Share-cropper, by Marcus B. Christian
2. Formation of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union, by Howard Kester
3. Night Riders With Guns and Pistols
4. Frank Weems Case, by Norman Thomas
5. Planters Railroad Union Men to Prison, February 21, 1936
6. H. L. Mitchell to E. B. McKinney, July 31, 1936
7. J. E. Clayton to H. L. Mitchell, December 28, 1937
8. J. R. Butler to STFU Executive Council, July 18, 1938
9. J. R. Butler to Claude Williams, August 22, 1938
10. Claude Williams’ Response to J. R. Butler, August 25, 1938
11. J. R. Butler to E. B. McKinney, August 27, 1938
12. E. B. McKinney to J. R. Butler, August 31, 1938
13. E. B. McKinney’s Pledge of Allegiance, December 5, 1938
14. J. E. Clayton to H. L. Mitchell, May 6, 1939
15. J. E. Clayton to J. R. Butler, June 9, 1939
16. George Mayberry to H. L. Mitchell, November 23, 1939
17. Affidavit of George Mayberry, November 29, 1939
18. Letters From a Sharecropper
19. Farmer’s Memory Sings Raggedy Tune
20. King Cotton, by John Handcox
21. Strike in Arkansas, by John Handcox
THE MISSOURI ROADSIDE DEMONSTRATION OF 1939
22. Ten Million Sharecroppers, by Mildred G. Freed
23. Telegram From H. L. Mitchell to Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt, January 18, 1939
24. Herbert Little to Aubrey Williams, January 15, 1939
25. Sample Case Histories Compiled by Herbert Little From Roadside Demonstrators in January 1939
26. Memorandum From Herbert Little to Aubrey Williams, January 16, 1939
27. Report of Herbert Little, January 16, 1939
28. Memorandum From Aubrey Williams to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 16, 1939
29. Aubrey Williams to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 19, 1939
PART III: THE BLACK WORKER DURING WORLD WAR II
3. Negro Participation in Defense Work
4. Employers, Unions and Negro Workers, by Thomas A. Webster
5. Colored Labor Faces a Bottleneck, by Joseph S. Himes, Jr.
6. La. Labor Union Supports Demands of Negro Members
7. U.S. Navy Yards Increase Race Workers a Hundred-Fold
8. Crew Refuses to Sail Ship Unless Colored Men Hired
10. Philadelphia’s Employers, Unions and Negro Workers, by Charles A. Shorter
11. Negro Labor in Miami, by Judge Henderson
12. Employment Survey Shows Discriminatory Practices Widespread
13. Governor Opposes Equality in Plant
14. Negroes Offer Plan to Nelson for Training 50,000 Workers
15. Labor Leader Warns of Worker Shortage in Barring Negroes
17. Resolution to Hire Negro Beer Driver-Helpers Killed
18. Progress Report, War Manpower Commission, March, 1943
19. Occupational Status of Negro Railroad Employees
20. Beg Women to Take War Jobs Yet Deny Them to Negroes
21. Developments in the Employment of Negroes in War Industries
22. White and Negro Americans Must Unite for Victory
24. Women in War Industries Break All Precedent in Learning Intricate Jobs
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON MOVEMENT
26. Why Should We March? by A. Philip Randolph
27. Memo to all NAACP Branches, May 12, 1941
28. Call to the March, July 1, 1941
29. War Demands New Methods for Solution of the Negro Question
30. National March on Washington Movement Policies and Directives
31. March on Washington Movement Press Release, August 17, 1942
33. 400 Negroes in Protest Parade
34. Speech Delivered by Dr. Lawrence M. Ervin, June 30, 1943
35. 205 Jam Phone Co. At Once Paying Bills As Protest to Job Denials
FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES COMMITTEE
36. The Wartime Utilization of Minority Workers
37. F.E.P.C. Asks Roosevelt to Enforce Order
38. Ten Firms Ordered to Stop Race Bias or Lose Contracts
39. The FEPC: A Partial Victory
40. FEPC Cracks Down on Dixie Shipyard
42. Members Advised Not to Talk Until After Conference
44. Haas Compromise Bitterly Scored
48. Ditching the Permanent FEPC
49. Our Stake in a Permanent FEPC, by Ina Sugihara
THE FEPC AND DISCRIMINATION AT WEST COAST SHIPYARDS
51. Julia and Daisy Dollarhyde to Franklin Roosevelt, January 6, 1943
52. Herman Patten to Paul McNutt, February 11, 1943
53. Rita Queirolo to Paul McNutt, January 5, 1942
54. Rita Queirolo to Paul McNutt, November 30, 1942
55. Rita Queirolo to George M. Johnson, December 28, 1942
56. FEPC News Release, December 14, 1943
58. Boilermakers’ Union Claims Communists Influenced FEPC
59. Negro Status in the Boilermakers Union, by Thurgood Marshall
THE PHILADELPHIA “HATE STRIKE,” 1944
61. Un-American and Intolerable
62. Transit Strike Long Threatened
63. Ten Are Injured in Street Fights
64. Attempt to Operate El and Subway Fails
65. End This Outrageous Strike!
67. Up to the Army: End This Strike!
68. Collusion Charge Sent to Roosevelt, by Frank Rosen
69. Grave Strike Issues Remain
70. Philadelphia: Post-War Preview
73. CIO Leads Fight for Negroes in Transit
76. Carolyn Davenport Moore to U.S. Department of Justice, March 10, 1944
77. Rena Corman to Franklin Roosevelt, December 16, 1943
78. The Red Caps’ Struggle for a Livelihood, by Ernest Calloway
79. Redcaps Accept CIO Bid to Affiliate as New International
80. Detroit NAACP Calls on Negroes Not to Act as Strikebreakers for Ford
81. NAACP Press Release, April 9, 1941
82. The Ford Contract: An Opportunity, by Louis Emanuel Martin
83. Negroes Thank CIO for Aid in Detroit Housing Dispute
84. First Convention of the United Steelworkers of America, 1942
85. Constitution of the United Steelworkers of America, 1942
86. CIO’s Program for Inter-Racial Harmony in St. Louis
88. Negro Group to Meet FDR on Rights
89. CIO Seeks War Work for Firm as 450 Negroes Face Job Loss
90. UAW-CIO Convention Adopts Courier “Double V” Program, by Horace R. Cayton
91. Murray Orders Study of Negro Job Equality
92. CIO to Fight Bias Against Negroes
94. Old Labor Policy is Blasted, by Horace R. Cayton
95. CIO Confab Maps All-Out Fight on Racial Barriers, by Horace R. Cayton
97. Labor Unionist Disappointed in Lack of Interest, by Neil Scott
99. Oscar Noble to Victor Reuther, January 5, 1943
100. To All Negro Ford Workers
101. To All Negro Ford Workers
102. To All Negro Ford Workers
103. Board Minutes of United Automobile Workers, September 16, 1941
104. The Detroit Race Riot of 1943, by Earl Brown
105. UAW-CIO Press Release, July 27, 1943
107. CIO Condemns Race Bias, Urges Political Action to Help Win War
108. Citizen CIO, by Willard Townsend
109. The CIO and the Negro American, by Monroe Sweetland
110. CIO Fights Drive Against Negro War Workers
111. Second Convention of the United Steelworkers of America, 1944
112. CIO Spurs Negroes in Winston-Salem, by Rev. Marshall Shepard
113. Pitfalls That Beset Negro Trade-Unionists, by George L. P. Weaver
114. Negroes Rate CIO Fairer, Poll Shows
PART IV: THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND THE BLACK WORKER, 1936–1945
THE AFL AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
1. Old Guard vs. A.F. of L., by Lester Granger
2. Organized Labor’s Divided Front, by Charles H. Wesley
3. Negro Members Drive is Painters Council Plan
4. Strike Mediator Will Arrive Here
5. Picket Line Protests Use of White Workers in Colored Neighborhood
6. Whites Strike Over Hiring of Race Employees
7. Editorial of the Month: Labor Points the Way
8. Negro Dockers Strike in Georgia For Pay Increase
9. Longshoremen in New Orleans: The Fight Against “Nigger Ships,” by Robert C. Francis
10. John Fitzpatrick to Chicago Church Federation, May 26, 1937
11. Warren Clark and Shailer Matthews to Chicago Federation of Labor, May 21, 1937
12. Packers Join Auto Hands in Sit-Down Strike, by Russ J. Cowans
13. Packing Company Employers Disarmed
14. Jim Crowism in A.F. of L. Socred at Harlem Rally, by Cyril Briggs
15. Result of Green Probe is Awaited
16. Lily White Unions Steal Negro Jobs
17. The A.F. of L. Slams the Door Again
18. Final Forum Gathering Conducted
19. Negroes Map National Campaign to Break Color Bar in Railroad Unions
20. Negro Leaders Ask End of Rail Union Discrimination
21. Fight on Discrimination Shift to A.F. of L. Union
22. Brotherhood Wins Over Half Million Dollar Increase for Pullman Porters
24. AFL Union Head Favors Conductors
25. “We Must Use All L bor,” AFL Told
26. Protest Against AFL Jim Crow Local No. 92, by Herman Hill
27. Green Asks Plan to End AFL Bias
28. NLRB Examiner Cracks Down on AFL Jim Crow
29. Larus Case Spotlights AFL’s Policy on Negroes
SELECTED AFL CONVENTION RESOLUTIONS ON BLACK LABOR
PART V: THE POST WAR DECADE, 1945–1955
1. Employment and Income of Negro Workers: 1940–52, by Mary S. Bedell
2. Postwar Job Rights of Negro Workers
3. Postwar Jobs for Negro Workers, by William Green
4. Postwar Jobs for Negro Workers, by Philip Murray
5. The Government’s Role in Jobs for Negro Workers, by Major General Philip B. Fleming
6. Labor and Fair Employment, by Jacob S. Potofsky
8. Our Stake in the Labor Fight, by Clarence Mitchell
9. World Trade Union Parley and Negro Labor, by James W. Ford
10. Warn Negroes of Matt Smith
11. Foul Employment Practice on the Rails, by Charles S. Houston
13. Blacks in the Labor Unions: New Orleans, 1950
14. CIO Seeks End of Segregation in Oklahoma University
16. Court Outlaws Railroad-Union Jim Crow Deal
17. Negro Workers Gain New Jobs When Union Fights Jim Crow
19. U.S. Is the Biggest Jim Crow Boss
20. All-White Auto Union Jury Ousts 13 Detroit Leaders
23. Speech of Frank Crosswaith, June 28, 1952
24. Colored Union Wins Costly Suit
25. Supreme Court Decisions Protect Negro Railroad Workers
26. N.C. Furniture Workers Blaze Union Trail
27. Brutal Captains, Federal Screening Take Negroes’ Lives and Jobs at Sea
28. A Leader of the Furriers Union
29. International Harvester Strikes Fight Wage Cut
30. Labor Defends Life of Negro Unionist in Harvester Strike
31. Harvester Strikers Battle Company Attack
32. Racial Dispute Irks Reuther
34. CIO Ban On Segregation Is Reaffirmed
35. Negro Gain Shown in South’s Plants
36. Negro Employment In the Birmingham Area (1955), by Langston T. Hawley
THE NATIONAL NEGRO LABOR COUNCIL
37. For These Things We Fight! by William R. Hood
38. New Council Maps Negro Job Battle
39. Labor Will Lead Our People to First Class Citizenship
40. Labor Council Meets, Charts Fighting Path
41. These Were the People On the Freedom Train
42. “Big Train Speaks of the New Negro”
43. Southern Worker Calls for Labor Council Drive
44. Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities
45. Labor Unit Set Up for Negro Rights
46. Hoods Statement on “600” Victory
47. Freedom Salutes: William A. Reed of Detroit
48. Harold Ward Free—Labor Council Sparked Campaign
49. Key Delegates Discuss Top Convention Issues
50. Militant Veterans of “600” Appeal International Rule
51. Negro Leadership—A Key Issue
52. Labor Lowers Boom on Jim Crow
53. NAACP Demands Curb on Red Aims
54. Negro Labor Group Called Red Front
PAUL ROBESON AND THE BLACK WORKER
55. Speech at International Fur and Leather Workers Union Convention
56. Robeson Dares Truman to Enforce FEPC
57. Remarks At Longshore, Shipclerks, Walking Bosses and Gatemen and Watchmen’s Caucus
58. Forge Negro-Labor Unity for Peace and Jobs
59. National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards Convention
61. Toward A Democratic Earth We Helped to Build
62. The Negro Artist Looks Ahead, by Paul Robeson
64. The UAW Should Set the Pace
66. Labor Leaders Express Views on the Proposed Merger