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Randolph, A(sa) Philip(1889–1979)
One of America’s greatest activists and labor lead-
ers and the man whose unflinching challenge of
racism led to the desegregation of the U.S. military.
Born in Crescent City, Florida, Asa was the
youngest of two sons born to James and Elizabeth
Robinson Randolph. His father was a tailor and
African Methodist Episcopal minister, and the fam-
ily was immersed in the world of the church. In
1903 Randolph and his older brother James began
school at the Cookman Institute, the first high
school for African Americans in Florida. After
graduating at the head of his class, Randolph mi-
grated to New York City in 1911 with hopes of
pursuing a career in the theater. Shortly after he
arrived in Harlem, Randolph enrolled at City Col-
lege, where he attended night classes. His studies
in economics, history, and philosophy primed him
for the vibrant political milieu of New York City
and the perspectives of such visible public figures
as Hubert Harrison, a provocative soapbox orator
on the streets of New York. In 1915 he married
Lucille Campbell Green, a beautician who had
received her training from the self-made million-
airess Madam C. J. Walker and enjoyed a close
friendship with Walker and with her daughter
A’Lelia. The Randolphs had no children. Lucille
Randolph died in 1963, just before the historic
March on Washington, in which her husband
walked in the lead procession.
Randolph and his lifelong friend CHANDLER
OWEN, whom he met through his wife Lucille,
founded THEMESSENGER.It was one of the three
most widely circulated African-American periodi-
cals of the Harlem Renaissance. Randolph served
as editor, manager, and publisher of the monthly
journal that produced its first issue in November- Writer GEORGESCHUYLERjoined the staff in
1924 and became a managing editor who incorpo-
rated more literary and cultural materials into the
periodical. Lucille Randolph was the primary fi-
nancial supporter of the journal that featured work
by ROBERTBAGNALL,COUNTEECULLEN,CLAUDE
MCKAY,LANGSTONHUGHES,THEOPHILUSLEWIS,
WILLIAMPICKENS, and WALLACETHURMAN.
The Messengerwas an outspoken advocate of
socialism, racial justice, and civil rights. It did not
hesitate to make pointed criticisms of the govern-
ment or of matters of global import such as World
War I. Randolph and Owen were jailed because of
their antiwar views, and the periodical was even
banned from the U.S. mail. During its heyday, The
Messengerenjoyed a circulation of more than 25,000
copies in 1919, but in the 1920s readership dropped
dramatically to 5,000 copies. The journal ceased
publication in 1925.
Randolph emerged as a major political figure
during the Harlem Renaissance. He was known for
his fiery public lectures, many of which he deliv-
ered like HUBERT HARRISON, on the corner of
135th Street and LENOXAVENUEin HARLEM.In
the years before the founding of the Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters, Randolph and Owen orga-
nized the United Brotherhood of Elevator and
Switchboard Operators.
In 1925 Randolph became one of the co-
founders of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters. It was the first African-American union,
and its potential power prompted the Pullman com-
pany, the primary employers of the sleeping car
porters and maids, to offer Randolph a $10,000
bribe to cease his organizing efforts. Despite opposi-
tion from many quarters, including the American
Federation of Labor, the labor union was finally rec-
ognized. Randolph went on to become the first
African-American vice president of the AFL-CIO,
the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations, a formidable consortium of
American unions.
Randolph continued to shape American pol-
icy and race relations in the decades after the
Harlem Renaissance. His plans in 1941 to mobi-
lize 50,000 African Americans for a march on
Washington to protest discriminatory practices in
the military and in the federal government forced
440 Randolph, A(sa) Philip