Norman hill
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Norman Hill was a very influential political activist, labor leader, and African American administrator. He was born in 1933 in Summit, New Jersey. He attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received a bachelor’s degree in 1956 in the field of sociology. He was one of the first African Americans to graduate from Haverford. From college, he enrolled in the military and served. After returning from the military, he moved to Chicago to join in the Civil Rights Movement. He was appointed Chicago Coordinator and held various positions in projects around Chicago, including Youth March for Integrated Schools, Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions.
Another endeavor Hill joined was the Congress of Racial Equality. In this organization, Hill was first the East Coast Field Secretary and then moved his way up to the position of National Program Director. As National Program Director, Hill coordinated the route 40 desegregation of restaurants, the Waldorf campaign, and illustrated the civil rights demonstration that took place at the 1964 Republican National Convention.
From 1964 to 1967, Norman Hill served as the Legislative Representative and Civil Rights Liaison of the Industrial Union department of the AFL-CIO. He was involved in the issue of raising minimum wage and the labor delegation on the Selma-Montgomery March against racial discrimination in politics and voting in the southern United States.
In 1967, Hill became active in the A. Philip Randolph Institute. He began as Associate Director, but later became Executive Director, and finally President. As Associate Director, Hill coordinated and organized the Memphis March in 1968, after Martin Luther King’s assassination. In his career at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Hill has created over two hundred local chapters of this organization across America, instituting change in almost every region of the United States. His work has truly changed the world we live in today by the immense amounts of political and social reform brought about by his neverending dreams and long career of laboring.
Citations:
African American Registry. (2005). Norman Hill, an Activist for Black Labor. Retrieved March 3, 2007 from http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2529/Norman_Hill_an_activist_for_Black_labor.
Blair Speech. (2003). Bayard Rustin: The Whole Story. Retrieved March 3, 2007 from http://www.socialdemocrats.org/VelmaHill.html.
Electrical Workers Minority Caucus. (2000). Retrieved March 3, 2007 from http://www.ibew-ewmc.org/NORMAN.htm.
National Black Caucus of State Legislators. (2006). Builder Awards: Norman Hill. Retrieved March 2, 2007 from http://www.nbcsl.com/conference2006/norman.html.
