In 1886, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), was founded on the principle that workers should be organized "without regard to creed, color, sex, nationality, or politics."

In 1910, however, Samuel Gompers, the labor pioneer who became the first AFL president, openly declared that black people could not think like whites and were unfit for the AFL.

A year after the Gompers' statement, 22-year-old Asa Philip Randolph, the son of a Florida minister, joined the Great Migration that saw many blacks leave the South and head North.

While enrolled at New York City College, Randolph took various odd jobs to support himself. After seeing the way black laborers were abused and despised, he dedicated himself to the task of improving the conditions and treatment of black workers.

In 1925, he was approached by a group of sleeping-car porters working for the Pullman Palace Car Company, which supplied and operated railroad sleeping-cars.

Black men had worked as porters since just after the Civil War, and it is commonly held that George Pullman had created the job with former slaves in mind. By the 1920's 15,000 blacks held what was still the best job many black college graduates could find. The Pullman Co. was the largest private employer of black workers in the country.

As an outsider, Randolph was immune to the company's pressure tactics. The work was tough, paid poorly and was often humiliating. Porters were often asked to do minstrel dances on the station platform for tips. The company paid nothing for the hours workers spent preparing the train for service or for runs with no passengers. In addition, porters had to deduct the cost of their uniforms and meals.

"The Pullman porter," Randolph later said, "seems to be made to order to carry the gospel of unionism in the colored world. His home is everywhere."

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters became an AFL affiliate in 1928. America's major labor unions still remained segregated through the 30's and 40's, which shut blacks out of most of the higher paying defense-related jobs that blossomed during the war effort.

Randolph called on black workers to march on Washington DC if President Roosevelt did not issue an executive order banning racial discrimination in war industries.

The vision of 10,000 angry black workers filling the streets of Washington DC was unsettling for the Roosevelt Administration. A delegation that included First lady Eleanor Roosevelt met with Randolph, but could not dissuade him from carrying out his plans. President Roosevelt himself, met with Randolph but he refused to relent.

Finally on June 25, 1941, six days before the expected march, Roosevelt signed the executive order. He also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to investigate and correct cases of discrimination. Randolph in return, canceled the protest.

In 1955, the AFL and the already integrated Congress of Industrial organizations (CIO) merged. The resulting desegregated organization chose Asa Philip Randolph as one of its vice presidents.