In 1925, Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Serving as its president, he sought to gain the union’s official inclusion in the American Federation of Labor, the affiliates of which, at that time, frequently barred African Americans from membership. Randolph battled on, and in 1937, won membership in the AFL, making the BSCP the first African-American union in the United States. Following the United States’ entrance into World War II, he organized the March on Washington to protest discrimination in the war industry workforce. Randolph called off the march after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order that banned racial discrimination on government defense factories and established the first Fair Employment Practices Committee. In the 1950s, Randolph served as a principal member of various labor boards, but also began to devote his time to civil rights work. In 1957, he organized a prayer pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to civil rights issues in the South, and began organizing the first Youth March for Integrated Schools. In 1963, Randolph was a main organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, during which he would speak to a crowd of nearly 250,000 supporters. He shared the podium that day with Martin Luther King Jr., who would deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the event. Randolph and King were among the handful of civil rights leaders to meet with President John F. Kennedy after the march.(April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979)
