Black Labor History

Negro History Week was celebrated for the first time in 1926 during the second week in February. This month was chosen because Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln celebrate their birthdays during the month. In 1976 Negro History Week became Black History Month and the rich history of African Americans began to receive special attention during the entire month of February.

As historians take a closer look at the many facets of black history in this country, they often find themselves documenting not only the struggle of an oppressed people but how that struggle was part of a larger social and economic movement to improve the lives of the working class.

In, "The Power of Remembering: Black Factory Workers and Union Organizing in the Jim Crow Era," Michael Honey addresses this idea when he writes, "The black freedom struggle is a long one. It is inter-generational, multi-layered, and includes all classes of folk. More often than not, history tells us about educators, professionals, preachers, and others who we perceive as leading the movement for change. To really understand the freedom struggle, however, we must know about the life histories of ordinary people, the disinherited, working-class and poor people who rarely appear in the history books. To locate their stories, historians have increasingly shifted their research to the local level and to the years and the generations prior to the 1954-1965 period, usually considered the high point of the civil rights struggle in the South. Attention to these earlier years has begun to direct our vision toward connections between community, civil rights, and labor struggles, toward the crucial perspective and influence of women, and toward the role of ordinary people in creating the basis for change."

Michael Honey's perspective can be found here.

Additional Resources

Specialized Sites Civil Rights & Labor Rights This is a page of resources dedicated to the activities of Dr. Martin Luther King. The page was developed by the American Labor Studies Center Pullman Porter Museum A. Philip Randolph redefined American labor, American democracy, and American society during a time when it was unsafe and unpopular. "I Am A Man,"An Exhibit Developed By The Reuther Library Honoring The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike. "African Americans And The American Labor Movement," By James Gilbert Cassidy. This special issue is presented on the National Archives And Records Administration's website. The paper is most helpful for anyone wishing to study this topic in detail using resources available through the agencies of the U.S. government..

Articles And Books "I Am A Man." "Those were the simple words on the signs carried by many of more than 1,300 striking Memphis sanitation workers--nearly all black--during the spring of 1968" The Preceding Quote Is From, "Killing the Dream : James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.", by Gerald L. Posner "The union's struggles at Ford and Chrysler spawned a new generation of African American activists who rose to leadership posts in politics and a host of institutions in both Michigan and in other parts of the United States." A Quote From, "African Americans And The UAW." Black Feedom Fighters in Steel: The Struggle for Democratic Unionism by Ruth Needleman Servitude to Service: African-American Women as Wage Earners: Rita G. Koman

Films And Videos "Oh Freedom After While" The story of the 1939 interracial sharecroppers strike in Missouri. "For the better part of the century, Randolph was a major force spreading the civil rights and labor movements...An engrossing presentation of his life and times." Washington Post "A Phillip Randolph - For Jobs And Freedom" "At The River I Stand," An excellent film on the movement which drew Martin Luther King to Memphis and his death. It reveals how the black and labor movements both win by struggling together!" Julian Bond, Chair, NAACP "Miles Of Smiles, Years Of Struggle," "A moving account of the Pullman porters' remarkable (and largely untold) history." Washington Post Coalition of Black Trade Unionists