A. PHILIP RANDOLPH: Integration in the Workplace

This earnest installment in ""The History of the Civil Rights Movement"" series succeeds in capturing the personality of a spirited African-American socialist leader. Poignant examples of the humiliations that shaped Randolph's life include his ejection from a public library whose laden shelves seemed like miracles to a boy who had pored over every book in his parents' home. As co-founder of The Messenger, he tried but failed to organize black unions until his ten-year-long sustained efforts on behalf of the Pullman porters led to new legislation; he went on to tackle other issues of segregation, including that in the military. Oversimplified insights (""This was a bitter time for Randolph, and he kept the hurt inside him for a long time"") interfere with an otherwise readable narrative, but Wright's passion for her subject is never in doubt. Useful. B&w photos; chronology; bibliography; index.