National Negro Congress

The National Negro Congress was formed by John P. Davis in 1936. Davis, along with other Communist supporters, developed the idea of forming a Communist backed organization in May of 1935 during a Joint Committee on National Recovery convention. They wanted to form an organization to help unify smaller organizations around the country that helped to fight racial inequality.

The National Negro Congress held its inaugural convention at the Eighth Regiment Armory on Chicago's South Side in February of 1936. Over eight hundred delegates representing more than five hundred organizations participated in this convention. In addition to those members, at least three million constituents also attended the convention. Chicago residents represented 43 percent of the attendees at the convention. Sharecropping, business practices and women and labor were all discussed at length.

It was at this convention that the leaders of the National Negro Congress decided that their main objective would be to unite black workers and intellectuals with white workers and intellectuals in order to fight for racial justice. Even at this inaugural convention, the leaders felt that their objective was being met when they saw both black and non black attendees.

Philip Randolph, a non Communist was sworn in as National President. John P. Davis accepted the position of National Secretary. The decision to offer Randolph the presidency was made by the founding members of the National Negro Congress because they thought that being a Communist backed organization would hurt their efforts.

The National Negro Congress Chicago Council was considered to be the most active. Charles Burton led the Chicago Council from 1936 to 1940. He was considered by some to be too laid back. He led some movements such as rallies against police brutality but, he handed over the rains to Ishmael Flory in 1940 because some National Negro Congress members were unhappy with his leadership style.

Under the leadership of Ishmael Flory, the National Negro Congress Chicago Council led some protests and rallies that influenced other Councils, including some in California, to lead similar events. Flory was a radical leader. One of his most notable events was a protest held against the Cook County Nursing Home because of racial discrimination. He also helped to organize steel mills and packinghouses with the the Congress of Industrial Organizations in
order to increase African American employment.

Because of their Communist backing, the National Negro Congress had to deal with rivals. Their biggest rival was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the NAACP. Although the National Negro Congress stated that they were opposed to war, racial injustice against all races and fascism, the NAACP saw their Communist roots as un-American.

The NAACP tried to stay away from the National Negro Congress and all of their supporters to avoid being seen as a supporter. Curiosity did, however, get the best of some of the NAACP leaders and supporters. Roy Wilkins, editor of the NAACP magazine, Crisis, and former Assistant Secretary of the NAACP, was spotted at the inaugural convention of the National Negro Congress. He was not considered an active participant.

The National Negro Congress did not let the fact they could not gain the NAACP's support stop them from finding support from other national organizations. Davis worked hard to get the National Urban League and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to support the National Negro Congress. He was successful in gaining both of these and felt that their support showed the public that the National Negro Congress was dedicated to helping increase racial justice for all of the working class in America.

After the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, the National Negro Congress began to experience turmoil. Shortly after the 1940 National Negro Congress convention, Philip Randolph resigned as the National President as a protest of the Communist influence on the National Negro Congress. John P. Davis took over as National President.

The Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 hurt the National Negro Congress in other ways. As the public became more aware of the increasing Communist influence on the National Negro Congress, support began to dissipate.

The National Negro Congress officially stopped holding events under that name in 1947. In 1946, the National Negro Congress joined with the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and the International Labor Defense to form a new organization called the Civil Rights Congress. This new organization continued the work of the National Negro Congress. It was also backed by the Communist Party.

Investigations from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Subversive Activities Control Board led the Civil Rights Congress to disband. The leaders stated the high legal costs of fighting the investigations and a decrease in membership as the reasons for the dissolution.

Even after the dissolution of the National Negro Congress and the Civil Rights Congress, many of its members continued to do work to help African Americans deal with the harsh realities of racial discrimination. Most of the work done after this point was done to increase African American employment and to improve housing conditions for African Americans.