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Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Grover Batts and Audrey Walker
Revised by Melinda K. Friend

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

1997

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2000

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms000016

Latest revision: 2004-11-17

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Transfers:

Copyright Status:

Preferred Citation:

Related Material

Biographical Notes

Benjamin F. McLaurin

A. Philip Randolph

Ashley L. Totten

Scope and Content Note

Organization of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Names:

Subjects:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters were given to the Library of Congress in 1971 by A. Philip Randolph and the brotherhood and in 1981 by the Chicago Historical Society.

Processing History:

The records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters were first arranged and described in 1972. Additional material received was incorporated into the collection in 1985 and this register subsequently revised in 1997.

Transfers:

Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Photographs have been transferred to the Prints & Photographs Division. Sheet music has been transferred to the Music Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Records.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Related Material

In 1983, the Library received a separate collection of the papers of A. Philip Randolph. Other records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters can be found in the Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley and at the Chicago Historical Society.

Biographical Notes

Benjamin F. McLaurin

A. Philip Randolph

Ashley L. Totten

Scope and Content Note

The records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters span the years 1920-1968, with the bulk of the items dated 1950-1968. The collection is arranged into two parts and includes series related to the brotherhood and its officers.

Part I of the records spans the years 1937-1968, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1950-1968. The records are organized into three series: General Correspondence, Subject File, and A. Philip Randolph Papers.

Although the main focus of Part I is the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the records are dominated by the personality and activities of the organization's founder, A. Philip Randolph. The Subject File contains a large quantity of material on the growth and functions of the union from 1940 to 1968 and includes agreements reached between the brotherhood and the nation's major railroad lines. Included also is material exchanged between the local unions and the brotherhood's headquarters, as well as files relating to biennial conventions, financial matters, and the ladies auxiliary. There are no records relating to Randolph's creation of the union in 1925 or to the brotherhood's subsequent struggles for existence while organizing various union locals.

The General Correspondence series contains exchanges between Randolph and his principal aides, A. R. Blanchette, C. L. Dellums, Benjamin F. McLaurin, T. D. McNeal, Bennie Smith, and Milton P. Webster, as well as extensive correspondence with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and a lesser amount with labor organizations representing dining car employees, locomotive firemen, and railway clerks. Among the major labor leaders represented in the correspondence are Dave Beck, David Dubinsky, William Green, George Meany, Philip Murray, Michael J. Quill, Woodruff Randolph, and Roy, Victor, and Walter Reuther. There is also correspondence of political figures and an abundance of letters exchanged with civil rights organizations and leaders including Julian Bond, James Farmer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd B. McKissick, Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Bayard Rustin, Arthur B. Spingarn, C. Sumner (Chuck) Stone, Jr., Walter Francis White, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young, Jr. Of particular interest is a group of letters from the African labor organizer, Tom Mboya, concerning his activities among the workers of Kenya.

Also received with Part I were papers of A. Philip Randolph which are not directly related to the brotherhood. These papers, organized by subject and type of material, constitute the last series of this original portion.

Acquired at a later date, Part II of the records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters spans the years 1920-1968, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1950-1968. This portion of the records is organized into the Benjamin F. McLaurin Papers, the A. Philip Randolph Papers, the Ashley L. Totten Papers, Subject File, Financial Papers, and Miscellany.

The records in Part II generally cover the same time period and supplement the correspondence and files of Part I. Although A. Philip Randolph remains the dominant individual in the collection, files of other brotherhood officers are included in most of the series. Randolph's correspondence contains letters from members of the brotherhood, officials of other labor unions, members of the United States Congress, educators, individuals involved in civil rights efforts, persons seeking relief from economic distress, and admirers. The most voluminous correspondence is with A. R. Blanchette, the brotherhood's international field representative in Canada, and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The letters of Benjamin F. McLaurin, which span the years 1944-1957, are primarily confined to his services as international field organizer, while those of Ashley L. Totten, dating 1937-1951, relate to his duties as secretary-treasurer of the brotherhood.

The Subject File in Part II contains additional agreements between the brotherhood and the railroad companies, but most of the files concern the participation of the union in railway and labor organizations. The most informative material relating to the organizing activities of the union can be found in the files pertaining to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. These activities were carried out under the auspices of the Provisional Committee To Organize Colored Locomotive Firemen. The records document the struggles of African-American firemen to retain their jobs and seniority rights with the railroad companies while seeking to be represented by a labor union. Briefs of legal cases brought by the brotherhood on behalf of the African-American firemen are also included in the files. Some of the material in the files relating to Canada also touches on the organizing activities of the brotherhood.

The papers of A. Philip Randolph, Benjamin F. McLaurin, and Ashley L. Totten also contain material not directly related to the activities of the union, although some may be the result of their prominence as officers in the brotherhood. Randolph's files include material on the organization of agricultural workers, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the National Sharecroppers' Fund, which shows his concern for farm laborers and his support of organizations seeking to better their working conditions. A significant file in McLaurin's papers relates to his campaign for a seat on the New York city council in 1945. Correspondence and a file of speaking engagements constitute the papers of Ashley L. Totten. A letter written while he was president of the American Virgin Islands Civic Association is also among his papers.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in two parts composed of nine series:

• Part I
  • General Correspondence, 1940-1968, n.d.
  • Subject File, 1940-1968, n.d.
  • A. Philip Randolph Papers, 1937-1968, n.d.
• Part II
  • Benjamin F. McLaurin Papers, 1944-1957, n.d.
  • A. Philip Randolph Papers, 1935-1968, n.d.
  • Ashley L. Totten Papers, 1937-1951, n.d.
  • Subject File, 1920-1968, n.d.
  • Financial Papers, 1936-1968
  • Miscellany, 1947-1963, n.d.

Container List