1900-1989
C. L. Dellums made significant social contributions as a pioneer in the union movement and as a key officer in the California chapter of the NAACP. As a young man, Dellums took a job as a Pullman porter and
soon afterward began speaking out for his rights and those of his fellow portersmuch to the dismay of the Pullman Company.
He was fired for his union activity in 1927. Undaunted, Dellums organized a union for porters on the West Coast. After meeting A. Philip Randolph, Dellums joined the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and was elected its national vice president.
In 1940, Dellums and other civil rights leaders organized what would have been the first march on Washingtonbut the march never occurred. The impetus for the march ended when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the defense industry to hire minority workers.