The legacy of Rosina Corrothers Tucker embodies a notion as prevalent today as in the early to mid 20th century: Black women serving as pillars to innovation and social liberation.
Born Rosina Budd Harvey in 1881, the native Washingtonian served as a pivotal force of sistership for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) – the first all-Black labor union. She notably helped establish BSCP’s local chapter in Washington, D.C.
Founded by A. Phillip Randolph in 1925, BSCP posed an opportunity for a major shift in a labor landscape griefed with systemic inequities and poor standards. Tucker was readily at the forefront of labor justice in the District, hosting private meetings for Pullman Company porters at her home located at 1128 7th Street NE, per Washington Post archives.
She eventually led efforts to establish the Women’s Economic Council (now renamed the International Ladies’ Auxiliary Order), a coalition of porter wives and maids whose contributions were crucial to the formative success of the union. Among other tasks, the council raised money and community support for BSCP, held annual conventions, and formed connections with labor unions throughout D.C.
“Their contributions have long been overshadowed by their male counterparts in the Brotherhood’s proud mythology,” wrote labor rights author Kim Kelly in her 2022 book “Fight Like Hell: The Untold Story of American Labor.” “But the truth is that the union could not have launched — or notched half of the victories it won — without their fervent support and untold hours of unpaid labor.”
The American Federation of Labor finally granted the BSCP a charter in 1935, marking the first time a major labor organization had ever recognized an African American union.
As 2025 marks the centennial anniversary of the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, the vision of equity, better conditions and fair wages that pillared their labor justice initiatives is reflected through modern efforts toward equal rights, including the Me Too Movement and national advocacy for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Tucker was later elected International Secretary Treasurer of the Ladies Auxiliary, a role she served until 1984. Beyond the order, Tucker continued her role in social justice through political and civil rights activism, including working to create unions for women in laundry and domestic service industries and organizing numerous boycotts and protests, such as the March on Washington of 1963.
Following a storied career of courage and resilience, the labor activist died on March 3, 1987 at the age of 105.
“While I live, let not my life be in vain,” Tucker once told a young reporter, according to Breaking the Chains Mag. “And when I depart, may there be remembrance of me and my life as I have lived it.”