Elected officials joined labor union and civil rights leaders on Wed. Nov. 16 in a salute to Norman Hill, president emeritus of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and an advocate for 50 years for economic and social justice.
Hill, 72, the husband of Community Board 4 member Velma Murphy Hill, was an organizer with the Congress of Racial Equality in the early 1960s and was CORE’s national program director until 1964 when he directed the civil rights demonstrations at the 1964 Republican National Convention. With A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, Hill helped organize the A. Philip Randolph Institute in 1965. He was a founding member of the Bayard Rustin Fund and the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.
Despite losing his sight in 2000, he continued to serve as president of the Randolph Institute until 2004 and still follows a hectic speaking and writing schedule.
Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, State Senator Tom Duane, Manhattan Borough President Elect Scott Stringer and Councilmembers Gale Brewer, Christine Quinn and Alan J. Gerson were among the officials joining AFL-CIO president John Sweeney in the tribute at the New-York Historical Society.
