The theme, African Americans and Labor, "focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds - free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary - intersect with the collective experiences of Black people... In each of these instances, the work Black people do and have done have been instrumental in shaping the lives, cultures, and histories of Black people and the societies in which they live. Understanding Black labor and its impact in all these multivariate settings is integral to understanding Black people and their histories, lives, and cultures."
Association for the Study of African American Life & History. (2024). Black history themes. https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm was a teacher, congresswoman, and co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus. In 1668, she became the first African American woman elected to congress. In 1972, she ran for president using the motto 'unbought and unbossed.'
Image source: The Smithsonian
Learn more from: The Women's National History Museum
Dorothy Cotton
Dorothy Cotton spent her life working in public service and fighting for civil rights. She was the director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's (SCLC) Citizenship Education Program and worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. as a member of his executive staff.
Image source: The Bob Fitch Photography Archive at Stanford University
Learn more from: The New York Times
John J. Smith [1820-1906]
John J. Smith was a barber and abolitionist before he served as a recruiter for the 5th Cavalry during the Civil War. After the war, Smith served three terms as a legislator in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and then was elected to the Boston Common Council.
Image source: State Library of Massachusetts
Learn more from: The City of Boston
Rayford Logan [1897-1982]
Professor Rayford Logan was a history professor at Howard University, chief advisor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a member of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Black Cabinet, director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), and recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn Award in 1980.
Image source: Georgia State University Library
Learn more from: Digital Library of Georgia
Frances Harper [1825-1911]
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a poet, writer, teacher, abolitionist, and suffragist. She was co-founder and president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and director of the American Association of Colored Youth. When she published "Two Offers" in 1859, Harper became the first Black woman to publish a short story in the United States. She was also the first woman instructor at Union Seminary in Ohio. In 1866, she gave a speech titled "We Are All Bound Up Together" at the National Woman's Rights Convention in New York.
Image source: The Museum of African American History
Learn more from: The National Women's History Museum
Thomas E. Askew [1847-1914]
Thomas E. Askew was a printer and photographer in Atlanta, Georgia. He primarily photographed local black community members. His photos were featured in W. E. B. Du Bois' album titled "Types of American Negroes, Georgia, U.S.A." which was exhibited in the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Image source: Library of Congress
Learn more from: Arts ATL
Belle da Costa Greene [1879-1950]
In 1905, Belle da Costa Greene met Junius Spencer Morgan while working as a librarian at the Princeton University Library. He introduced her to his uncle, J. P. Morgan, who hired her to be the librarian and curator for his large private collection in New York. Seven years later, she was promoted to director of the Morgan Library.
Image Source: Library of Congress
Learn more from: The Morgan Library & Museum
Mary Dickerson [1830-1914]
Mary H. Dickerson was an entrepreneur, suffragette, and active community member in New England in the 19th century. She founded the Women's Newport League, Northeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, and Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs.
Image source: Library of Congress
Learn more from: African American Registry
A. Philip Randolph [1889-1979]
A. Philip Randolph was the founder and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union in the United States. He also helped organize three marches on Washington to protest racial discrimination: the first was in 1941 and was aimed at the defense industry, the second was in 1947 and sought to eliminate segregation in the military, and the third was the famous 1963 March on Washington, from which he was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy in 1964.
Image source: Library of Congress
Learn more from: The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Dorothy Bolden [1923-2005]
Dorothy Lee Bolden was a domestic worker and civil rights activist who founded the National Domestic Workers Union of America. She advocated for better wages and working conditions for domestic workers in Georgia. In 1970, she met with then-Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, who declared Maids Honor Day as a state holiday to celebrate domestic workers.
Image source: Georgia State University Library
Learn more from: New York History
Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller [1872-1953]
Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller was a neurologist and the first Black psychiatrist in the United States. Solomon studied at the Boston University (BU) School of Medicine. He worked at Westborough State Hospital in Massachusetts and the Royal Psychiatric Hospital in Munich. Throughout his career, he also taught pathology at BU, worked with Dr. Alois Alzheimer's at a research lab in Germany, and continued his work on Alzheimer's disease when he returned to the States.
Image source: New York Public Library
Learn more from: The Mayo Clinic
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Photograph description: This sleeping car was owned by the Pullman Company and was driven by railway workers who formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in 1925, which was the first all-Black labor union in the United States. They achieved many of their goals under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, including better wages and working conditions. Image source: Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives
Learn more at the Library of Congress.
African American Labor History
- "African Americans and the American Labor Movement" from the National ArchivesThis paper provides a history of the African American Labor Movement with a focus on federal agencies and legislative involvement.
- "African Americans at Work" by the National Museum of African American History & CultureThis photo essay features a series of photographs of Black workers which date back to the 1860s. It briefly discusses labor history.
- "A Short History of Black Labor Movements in America" by the Louisville Political ReviewThis article presents a timeline of Black labor organization in the United States from 1835 to the present.
- "Eight Black Women Labor Leaders You Should Know" from the U.S. Department of Labor BlogThis post from the Department of Labor highlights eight black women who served as union and labor leaders in the United States from the 1920s to the 1970s. They helped improve conditions for workers in the transportation, garment, and domestic services industries, among others.
- U.S. Department of Labor Blog - Black History MonthThe Department of Labor's online blog has archived posts relating to African Americans and labor, including interesting topics such as "What You Probably Didn't Know About the Role of Black Miners in U.S. History" and "The Past and Future of Workplace Safety for Black Americans."
Archival Collections
- Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Research GuideThis research guide from the Library of Congress provides print and digital resources about the history and achievements of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2025.
- Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. PapersCharles J. Ogletree, Jr. was a lawyer, professor, author, legal theorist, and prolific speaker. His papers are available online through the Harvard Law School, where he taught from 1984 to 2020.
- DeGrasse-Howard PhotographsThis collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) features photographs from four African American families living in Boston from 1861 to 1976. This includes photos of John Van Surley DeGrasse, who was the first African American member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the first African American medical officer in the U.S. Army.
- Southern Labor ArchivesGeorgia State University's Southern Labor Archives provides an extensive amount of digitized special collections and archives materials related to African Americans and labor. This includes the "African Americans in Transportation Oral History Project," which features interviews with workers from the transportation industry.
Online Exhibits
- The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersThis digital exhibit from the Chicago History Museum highlights photographs and other digitized materials pertaining to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
- Frank Bowling and 5+1This webpage from the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, Massachusetts, is dedicated to Frank Bowling and the 1969 exhibition "5+1." The exhibit was organized by Bowling and featured artwork from African American artists. Here you can find images of the exhibit, interviews with artists, related essays, and other digitized archival materials.
- A House Divided: African American Workers Struggle Against SegregationThis digital exhibit from the University of Maryland Library focuses on African Americans and labor unions. It features digitized archival materials from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
- The Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller CollectionMeta Vaux Warrick Fuller was an American sculptor who depicted the African American experience in her work. Danforth Art Museum in Framingham, Massachusetts holds the Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Collection. Go to their website to view some of the pieces on display.