August 1925

A. Philip Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters on August 25, 1925, organizing 12,000 Black Pullman porters — who called the porters collectively 'George' after founder George Pullman — against one of the country's largest employers of Black labor. Pullman Company used surveillance, firings, and its own company union to crush organizing. After a decade-long campaign, the BSCP won recognition in 1937, becoming the first predominantly Black union to win a contract from a major American corporation. The union became a pillar of the Civil Rights movement and financial sponsor of organizing.

A. Philip Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters on August 25, 1925, organizing 12,000 Black Pullman porters against one of the country's largest employers of Black labor. Pullman Company used surveillance, firings, and its own company union to crush organizing. After a decade-long campaign, the BSCP won recognition in 1937, becoming the first predominantly Black union to win a contract from a major American corporation. The union became a pillar of the Civil Rights movement and financial sponsor of organizing campaigns for decades.

A. Philip Randolph organizes the first major Black labor union.