How far could the historian make use of sources 1 and 2 together to investigate the impact of second world war
on the status of Black American workers?
Source 1 is written by Phillip Randolph a black union leader and activist, who organised and led the Washington
march movement. Phillip Randolph is seen of great significance in terms of speaking on behalf of black people.
This source was published by the survey graphic, November 1942 so it’s during the early stages of the war.
Randolph focuses on discrimination, more specifically within the armed forces and defence industries. Randolph
saw the war as a pivotal moment which led to change. Source 2 is a personal account from Sybil Lewis, a black
American worker, who is recalling her wartime experiences. Lewis recalls her experience working as a riveter in
the Lockheed Aircraft. Source 2 gives us a first hand experience of what black workers actually went through in
comparison to source 1 where it’s speaking on their behalf.
Source 1 highlights how important it is to achieve democracy at home before attempting to fight for it overseas.
This is seen when Randolph states that black people “are confronted with the challenge to win democracy for
ourselves at home and to help win the war for democracy the world over” during this time, the double ‘V’
campaign attempted to fix this issue in order to combat racism, demanding racial equalities at home and abroad.
When he says “If you haven’t got democracy yourself, how can you win it for somebody else” this highlights the
struggles faced by black American workers including segregation and the poll tax which essentially made them
second class citizens. Randolph’s campaigning brought about the creation of executive order 8802 which
outlawed racial discrimination in defence industries.
This extends to source 2, where Lewis tells us how this order changed her experience in the workforce. She says
“I left my position as a housemaid in the south”, “I quickly found a job as a $48 a week riveter at Lockheed
Aircraft” which shows the increase in employment opportunities. She was able to receive a much better pay
going from “$3.50 a week” to “$48 a week”- a huge increase. She was now able to work in a higher skilled
position with a much better pay that shows the positive impact that the executive order 8802 had on black
American worker’s lives. “the n – word was just a way of life” shows that although the economic status of black
American workers in the service industry improved greatly, social status remained at a standstill.
Using source 1 and 2 together, the historian is able to look at the impact of the second world war on the status of
black American workers. One biproduct of the war was executive order 8802, which allowed a shift in economic
status. Source 1 is a pre war account, shows the issues that they were facing and showed what needed to be
worked on and changed. “Fair employment practice, have barely begun to eliminate racial discrimination in war
industries” this shows there is a long way to go in terms of successfully eliminating racial discrimination and how
this order isn’t working to combat the issue. We are aware that the order needed to be reinforced to work
effectively. By looking at source 2, the historian is able to see the positive impact that the order created within the
workforce. “Had it not been for executive order 8802 , I don’t think blacks would be in the position they are now”
this portrays the extent in which the order was appreciated by black American workers. “The war changed my
life” showed the historian what a strong impact it had on the lives of black American workers.
The sources together, prove to be extremely useful in seeing the change in economic status, or the lack there of
in social status, experienced by black American workers, this can be showed by looking at the differences in the
two time periods, showing post war and pre-war. However, the limitation of using these sources is that continued
effect of the war, seeing only immediate gratification provided by the second world war to the workplace.
