In partnership with the national AFL-CIO and historical societies, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO honors African Americans who have made a significant impact in the labor and civil rights movements. We hope you meet them all.
Profile: Ella Josephine Baker, a granddaughter of slaves, who was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1903 and moved with her family to North Carolina as a young girl. She studied at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., where she passionately challenged and organized around unfair school policies. In 1927, she graduated as class valedictorian then moved to New York to engage in social activism.
