American Historical Ephemera and Photography, Featuring African Americana

The Official Proceedings of the National Negro Congress. Washington, DC: National Negro Congress, ca 1936. 8vo (136 x 196 mm). Staple-bound original illustrated wrappers (toning, creasing, light soiling). "The National Negro Congress convened in the city of Chicago, February 14, 15, and 16, 1936. It was attended by 817 delegates from 585 organizations, spread geographically over 28 states and the District of Columbia." The keynote address of President A. Philip Randolph is printed along with full and excerpted addresses from other important speakers, with reports and resolutions on a number of topics covered at the convention including "The Farm Population," "Lynching and Civil Liberties," "Aid to Ethiopia," "Improving Status of Foreign Born Negroes," and many others.

Illinois Labor Notes. Vol. 4, No. 3. Chicago, IL: National Research League, March 1936. 18pp., 8vo (215 x 278 mm) (disbound, toning, staple residue and holes, chipping to page edges, possibly missing back wrapper). Printed hand-written block letters on front cover label this the "National Negro Congress Issue" of the publication, with contents listed including "Where the Negro People Make Their Homes," "Negroes in Chicago Industry," and "Jim Crow Evanston," and additional block letters reading, "Welcome, Delegates!"

Formed at Howard University in 1936, the National Negro Congress was organized to "secure the right of the Negro people to be free from Jim Crowism, segregation, discrimination, lynching, and mob violence" and "to promote the spirit of unity and cooperation between Negro and white people." It was initiated as a national body combining church, labor, and civil rights organizations together, in order to coordinate efforts in protesting inequality and worsening economic conditions for Black people.