Six months prior to Pearl Harbor FDR signed Executive Order 8802 which made it illegal for defense contractors to discriminate based on race or religious faith. Eight months later the President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practices was convened in New York City to review the evidence at hand indicating that numerous defense contractors were failing to comply with the law.
“Eugene Davidson and the Anti-Nazi League pointed out that our war effort was being impaired because a large number of capable workmen were prohibited from taking part because of their religion or race.”
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Seedtime for the Modern Civil Rights Movement:
The President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practice, 1941 – 1946
