Asa Philip Randolph
By Rachel Cheng
Rm: 201-8th
Early Childhood
Asa P. Randolph was born on April 15,
1889 in Crescent City, Florida but
moved to Jacksonville, Florida two
years later. He was born to James
William and Elizabeth (Robinson)
Randolph. His sibling includes his older
brother William. His father was the
minister of A.M.E. Church.
School Life
He read Communist Manifesto by Karl
Marx while other children his age were
still reading Alice in Wonderland. As a
child he had thought of a career with
power like a congressman or lawyer so
he can fight for the rights of blacks
and others who are treated differently.
He graduated out of Cookman
Institute as class valedictorian and
School Life (cont.)
was also on the baseball team, sang in
choir, excelled in literature, drama, and
public speaking. He’d worked odd jobs
(elevator operator, porter, and waiter)
while going to City College of New
York after moving there in 1911. It
was there when he met Chandler
Owen who attended Columbia
School Life (cont.)
University as a law student. This was
the beginning of The Messenger.
Chandler Owen
The Messenger
The Messenger was a radical Harlem
magazine. It also gave blacks the
opportunities for being in the military.
It also went against lynching. In it
were arguments of the US joining
World War I or not and advising blacks
to arm themselves in case a mob of
white came and attacked them.
Quote
“Salvation for a race, nation or class must
come from within. Freedom is never
granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it
is exacted and the struggle must be
continuous for freedom is never a final fact,
but a continuing evolving process to higher
and higher levels of human, social,
economic, political and religious
relationship.“
-A. Philip Randolph
Brotherhood of Sleeping
Car Porters
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters, otherwise known as BSCP,
was found in 1925. It then worked
with Pullman Company after twelve
years of hard work.
Members of BSCP
March on Washington
The March on Washington was
organized by Asa P. Randolph, John
Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Roy
Wilkins from NAACP, and James
Farmer from CORE’S. It was organized
because Randolph believed in equality
for blacks and Washington still
believed in segregation. The march
March on Washington
(cont.)
was for jobs and freedoms. It was set
off in 1941 because but eventually
happened in 1963 where 250,000
people marched in Washington and
this is where Martin Luther King Jr.
gave his “I Have A Dream” speech.
Marchers walking in Washington D.C.
March on Washington
(cont.)
Randolph had responded in The New
York Review of Books “You take ten
thousand dollars from a white man;
you have his ten thousand dollars, but
he’s got your movement. You take ten
cents from a Negro; you get his ten
cents, and you also have the Negro.”
Timeline
*April 15, 1889- Asa P. Randolph was
born in Crescent City, Florida.
*1891- Moved to Jacksonville, Florida.
*1911- Moved to New York hoping to
become an actor.
*1914- Married widow Lucille Green.
*1917- Started The Messenger.
Timeline (cont.)
*1921- Lost running for New York
Secretary of State.
*August 1925- Founded the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
*1940s-50s- Famous for being an
African-American rights spokesperson.
*1947- Spoke with President Truman
about African-American civil rights.
Timeline (cont.)
*1963- March on Washington.
*1964- Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed.
*1968- Health began to weaken.
*May 16, 1979- Lived to 90 years of age in
New York, New York.
Asa Philip Randolph
Awards
*1941- Honorary LL.D., Howard
University
*1942- Spingarn Medal, NAACP
*1964- Presidential Medal of Freedom
*1973- Civil Rights Award, American
Federation of Teachers
Bibliography
Book Source:
-Isaacs, Alan. Webster’s Family
Encyclopedia. 13 vols. New York:
1993.
Limited information on his
accomplishments and what he was
famous for.
Bibliography (cont.)
Internet Sources:
-Jessica McElrath. Asa P. Randolph- Profile of
Labor & Civil Rights Leader A. Philip
Randolph.
<http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/aphilipr
andolph/p/aphiliprandolph.htm>
It gave brief but specific information about
his whole life and work. No information on
marriage.
Bibliography (cont.)
-A. Philip Randolph: Biography from
Answers.com.
<http://www.answers.com/topic/a-philiprandolph> 28 Apr. 2009
More useful if you’re looking for quotes he’d
said.
-Dominique Butler. A. Philip Randolph.
<http://www.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/randol
ph.html> 1 May 2009
This site had good information on his later
years of life.
Bibliography (cont.)
-A. Philip Randolph Bio.
<http://www.apri.org./ht/d/sp/i/225/pid/22
5> 1 May 2009
Brief notes at the beginning and what I
needed which were not on other sites.
-Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_
of_Sleeping_Car_Porters> 1 May 2009
Helpful and gave specific details and info.
Bibliography (cont.)
-Jessica McElrath. The March on
Washington, 1963.
<http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/
marchonwashington/a/marchonwash1
963.thm> 1 May 2009
It gave me the details that I needed
for what the march was about.