A. Philip Randolph, Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement [Paperback]

Paula F. Pfeffer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The importance of black socialist civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), organizer of the Pullman porters--the first all-black labor union, whose nonviolent disobedience strategies anticipated those of Martin Luther King Jr.--has been neglected, rightly argues Pfeffer, associate professor of history at Chicago's Mundelein College. This well-researched study, focusing exclusively on Randolph's career, chronicles his efforts in the 1940s to integrate the armed forces and schools, and his unremitting struggle to achieve economic parity for blacks through fair employment practices, despite dissension among social activists. At the 1963 March on Washington, chaired by Randolph, King proclaimed his "dream"--which the older man had done much to define. The book resurrects fittingly a major, largely forgotten pivotal leader.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Randolph (1889-1979) was much more than a founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, Pfeffer argues. In not so much a biography as a study of civil rights leadership, she portrays the socialist Randolph as a prototype who in tactics and tenets was the most creative and pivotal black leader of his time. He plotted effective protest patterns such as sit-ins in the 1930s and 1940s that served as models in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1963 March on Washington--in which he was a moving force--was a renewal of his March on Washington Movement of 1943. His synthesis of economics with civil rights offered substantive solutions to social problems nagging the nation, Pfeffer suggests. A complement and corrective to old and recent work on Randolph and a major contribution to studies on the civil rights movement. Highly recommended.
- Thomas J. Davis, Univ. at Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807120758
• ISBN-13: 978-0807120750
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book for College Age, March 1, 2009

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This review is from: A. Philip Randolph, Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement (Paperback)

I ordered this book for my 7th grader as reference for a History project. It was way over her head. Good Book but for adults or Senior High age children.