Colored Line There
June 2, 1900
Summary
The Virginia State Federation of Labor is questions giving a black person “a seat in the convention.”
Transcription
Colored Line There
Delegate Barred Out.
The Virginia State Federation of Labor is questioning “giving [a black person] a seat in the convention.”
[Times, May 23, 1900]
It was a question of race, and it now looks as if the Virginia State Federation of Labor was going to draw the color-line. Labor was going to draw the color-line. When the annual convention, which is not being held in this city, was called to order yesterday the matter of admitting a colored delegate and giving him a seat in the convention occupied much of the time of the session. The question was decided by leaving the fate of the Negro to the local council of Newport News, from which town the contestant hails.
A Carpenters’ Union of Newport News is composed of colored mechanics, and one of their members was sent with his credentials properly prepared and endorsed to the convention here. He presented his credentials and asked that he be given a seat. The discussion provoked by this request was long and animated, and no other business was considered during the afternoon.
It was finally decided that the union represented by the colored man must first receive the endorsement of the local Federation, at Newport News, and gain admission thereto, before it could be properly represented in the State organization, and the delegate in question was therefore, refused admission.
Delegate Barred Out.
The Virginia State Federation of Labor is questioning “giving [a black person] a seat in the convention.”
[Times, May 23, 1900]
It was a question of race, and it now looks as if the Virginia State Federation of Labor was going to draw the color-line. Labor was going to draw the color-line. When the annual convention, which is not being held in this city, was called to order yesterday the matter of admitting a colored delegate and giving him a seat in the convention occupied much of the time of the session. The question was decided by leaving the fate of the Negro to the local council of Newport News, from which town the contestant hails.
A Carpenters’ Union of Newport News is composed of colored mechanics, and one of their members was sent with his credentials properly prepared and endorsed to the convention here. He presented his credentials and asked that he be given a seat. The discussion provoked by this request was long and animated, and no other business was considered during the afternoon.
It was finally decided that the union represented by the colored man must first receive the endorsement of the local Federation, at Newport News, and gain admission thereto, before it could be properly represented in the State organization, and the delegate in question was therefore, refused admission.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elizabeth Lopez-Lopez
Citation
“Colored Line There,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 23, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1283.