{"id":633,"date":"2014-05-23T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=633"},"modified":"2014-12-22T20:59:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-22T20:59:11","slug":"labor-leader-asa-phililp-randolph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/23\/labor-leader-asa-phililp-randolph\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor leader Asa Phililp Randolph"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President <\/a>
President Dwight Eisenhower with A. Philip Randolph in an undated photo. (Credit: Associated Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"January <\/a>
January 1944: A. Philip Randolph as a young man. (Credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bishop <\/a>
Bishop John J. Wright, J. Gordon Howard and A. Philip Randolph on Sept. 4, 1967. (Harry Klingensmith\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A. <\/a>
A. Philip Randolph in Washington D.C. before the Lincoln Memorial. (Credit: National Archives) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A. <\/a>
A. Philip Randolph on Sept. 21, 1966 inside the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offices. (Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

One of the American labor movement\u2019s greatest leaders was Asa Phililp Randolph, who knew what it meant to work hard and persevere.<\/p>\n

As a boy, he was a grocery store clerk and newspaper vendor to supplement the income of his father, a minister in the African Methodist Church. When he got older, Randolph laid track for the railroad.<\/p>\n

After leaving Crescent City, Fla., for New York City, he worked as an elevator operator and waiter while attending City College of New York. He lost his job while trying to organize a union for waiters on a local railroad.\u00a0But that setback did not stop him.<\/p>\n

By age 28, he was publishing a magazine called the Messenger, which was billed as the \u201conly radical Negro magazine in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1925, he began organizing a union called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a group of railroad employees who worked up to 400 hours a month for a wage of $67.50. Twelve years would pass before he won the union\u2019s first contract, which cut porters\u2019 work hours in half and more than tripled their salaries.<\/p>\n

In 1941, Randolph organized a march on Washington to protest discrimination in defense plants. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt yielded to the pressure and signed an executive order banning that type of discrimination.<\/p>\n

In 1948, Randolph and other black civil rights leaders fought discrimination in the U.S. military, prompting President Harry S. Truman to order desegregation of the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

Randolph also organized the famous 1963 March on Washington, which drew 250,000 people who heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak eloquently of his dreams for America. \u00a0The march brought pressure to bear on the U.S. Congress. That same year, Lucille Green Randolph, whom Randolph had married in 1955, died the day before his 74th birthday. On the nights when he was home, he read her a chapter from the Bible.<\/p>\n

The success of the March on Washington was realized a year later when \u00a0the Civil Rights of 1964 became federal law.<\/p>\n

In September 1967, Randolph was honored in Pittsburgh at a Labor Day Mass where Bishop John Wright presented him with an award for his courageous leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He knew what it meant to work hard and persevere.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesLabor leader Asa Phililp Randolph<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[1005,1035],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5zueqGTeF1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1024%2C835&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1442,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/02\/labor-day-in-the-steel-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":0},"title":"Labor Day in the Steel City","date":"September 2, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"During a business downturn in 1894, Pullman cut workers\u2019 wages, but not rents.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mscnzeQUcT1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1134&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":314,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/29\/pennsylvania-railroad-station-the-pennsylvanian-union-station-penn-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":1},"title":"Pennsylvania Railroad Station aka The Pennsylvanian aka Union Station aka Penn Station","date":"August 29, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The station at 10th Street and Liberty Avenue began its operation on October 12, 1901.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_nb1fjaHLO11rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C947&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2020,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/25\/oct-6-1910-george-westinghouse-entrepreneur\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":2},"title":"George Westinghouse: entrepreneur and innovator","date":"February 25, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Niagara Falls was the scene of triumph for George Westinghouse in 1896.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mijjoi0DGu1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C884&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2533,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/11\/march-10-1951-wabash-railroad-station-and\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":3},"title":"Wabash Railroad Station and Building","date":"September 11, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Built at the intersection of Liberty Ave and Ferry St, currently known as Stanwix St, the building served as a station of the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_ma049mwdsC1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C953&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8124,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/08\/02\/the-pittsburgh-post-gazette-celebrates-90-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":4},"title":"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Celebrates 90 Years","date":"August 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Though we\u2019ve still got some spring in our step, we can\u2019t lie: the Post-Gazette is a bit long in the tooth. Luckily we don\u2019t have to worry too much about going gray \u2014 that\u2019s the nice thing about newsprint. Today marks the 90th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Post and Gazette\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/PG1A1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":535,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/06\/23\/the-freedom-trains-journey-through-pennsylvania\/","url_meta":{"origin":633,"position":5},"title":"The Freedom Train\u2019s journey through Pennsylvania","date":"June 23, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Fifty-two railroads shared the task of taking the Freedom Train on its 33,000-mile journey.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_n7dqfdKlMq1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C969&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3970,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions\/3970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}