You have more than likely heard of Rosa Parks, and how she heroically sat down on a bus to help end segregation in Montgomery, Alabama.
But did you know discrimination often barred black bus drivers, even in northern cities?
On this day in Labor History the year was 1941 and New York City bus companies took an important step in fighting discrimination on the job.
The bus companies agreed to hire 200 black bus drivers and mechanics.
Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. had led a four-week boycott of the bus companies.
The bus boycott was not Powell’s first battle for hiring equality in the city.
In 1938 the Reverend Powell, Jr. had followed his father’s footsteps to become the pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.
The charismatic pastor used his status to call for Civil Rights reforms.
He helped lead “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” campaigns, in effort to open up quality employment opportunities for black New Yorkers.
Similar campaigns took place in other northern cities, including Cleveland and Chicago.
Perhaps Reverend Powell’s campaign that garnered the most attention came in 1939 where he led a picket to the Empire State Building, to protest discriminatory hiring practices at the World’s Fair.
The eyes of the globe were on New York City due to the fair and the Reverend understood it was an excellent opportunity to publicly make the case to end employment discrimination.
His strategy was successful, and the number of black employees for the fair more than tripled.
Two years later, the bus boycott was another part of the long campaign to end hiring discrimination.
In 1944, Powell was elected the first black Congressman from New York City.
Today a statue of Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. stands in Harlem.
Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show