African American Civil Rights and Labor Organizing During Jim Crow, CIO and NAACP Pamphlets, 1946–1949

Anti-Lynching Job Discrimination

Archive

Two pamphlets issued by the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the NAACP between 1946 and 1949 documenting organized opposition to racial discrimination, anti-Black violence, and segregation during the early postwar years of the Jim Crow era. The material documents interconnected systems of labor organizing and civil rights advocacy through reports on employment discrimination, housing inequality, lynching, police violence, and white supremacist terror, revealing how labor unions and civil rights organizations framed racial equality as central to postwar American democracy. Produced during a period of intensifying national debate over civil rights following World War II, the pamphlets provide primary-source evidence for the study of Black freedom struggles, interracial labor activism, and institutional responses to segregation and racial violence in the United States.
Collection consists of two staple-bound pamphlets in printed wrappers, ranging from 4 to 16 pages and measuring between 5 x 7.5 inches and 6 x 9 inches. [1] Report of the National CIO Committee to Abolish Discrimination. November 1946. The report details CIO initiatives addressing discrimination in education, employment, and housing while devoting substantial attention to African American civil rights. Specific incidents discussed include lynchings and the destruction of a Black community in Columbia, Tennessee by police forces. The report concludes with a statement linking racial equality to the outcome of World War II: “It is the problem of one hundred and thirty million people, who have fought and produced together, and who must learn to live in peace and respect for each other.” The publication demonstrates how segments of organized labor attempted to integrate civil rights advocacy into broader postwar political organizing. [2] A Chance to Live. [1949]. NAACP pamphlet addressing racial discrimination and anti-Black violence through brief case studies involving harassment, exclusion, and murder committed by Ku Klux Klan members and white civilians. The cover design incorporates approximately 400 names representing victims of racial bias and violence, visually emphasizing the scale of systemic discrimination. The final page summarizes NAACP activities and includes membership and donation information, illustrating the organization’s efforts to expand public support for civil rights campaigns.
Issued during the formative years of the modern civil rights movement, these pamphlets reflect growing national pressure to confront racial segregation and violence in the aftermath of military service by African Americans during World War II. The CIO’s openness to Black membership distinguished it from many earlier labor federations and contributed to alliances between labor organizers and civil rights advocates during the 1940s. Together, the pamphlets document how unions and advocacy organizations publicized racial injustice as both a civil rights issue and a national democratic crisis. Mild foxing to one pamphlet with minor edge wear overall. Pages and text remain crisp and clear. Compact but substantial grouping of postwar civil rights and labor advocacy material addressing the realities of racial discrimination under Jim Crow.

Item #20833

Price: $480.00