Norman Hill (born April 22, 1933 in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...

) is an American administrator, civil rights

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and labor leader. He attended

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and received a bachelor's degree in 1956 in the field of

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. He was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford. After college, Hill served in the military. After returning from military service, he moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to join the Civil Rights Movement. He also pursued a master's degree at the University of Chicago School of Social Welfare, but he dropped out in favor of more direct social action. Hill was appointed Chicago Coordinator for the Civil Rights Movement, and held various positions in projects around Chicago. These included Youth March for Integrated Schools, Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, and Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions. Another endeavor Hill joined was the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

. In this organization, Hill was first the East Coast Field Secretary and then moved his way up to the position of National Program Director. As National Program Director, Hill coordinated the route 40

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

of restaurants, the Waldorf campaign, and illustrated the civil rights demonstration that took place at the

1964 Republican National Convention The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Convent ...

. Between 1964 and 1967, Norman Hill held the positions of Legislative Representative and Civil Rights Liaison of the

Industrial Union Department The Industrial Union Department (IUD) was a division of the AFL-CIO, bringing together industrial unions. History In 1955, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), forming the AFL-CIO. The ...

of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. He was involved in the issue of raising minimum wage and overseeing the labor delegation on the

Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three Demonstration (protest), protest marches, held in 1965, along the highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery. The marches were organized by Nonviolence, nonvi ...

against

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

in politics and voting in the southern United States. In 1967, Hill became active in the A. Philip Randolph Institute. He began as Associate Director, but later became Executive Director, and finally President. In 1968, while Hill was Associate Director, in response to the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...

on April 4, he coordinated and organized the Memphis March. In his career at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Hill created over two hundred local chapters of this organization across the United States. In 1969, Norman Hill also had a lead role in the controversial movie ''

Burn! ''Burn!'' (original title: ''Queimada'', Spanish and Portuguese for "Burnt" or "Burned") is a 1969 historical war drama film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Set in the mid-19th century, the film stars Marlon Brando as a British ''agent provoca ...

'', starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

and Evaristo Marquez and directed by

Gillo Pontecorvo Gilberto Pontecorvo (; 19 November 1919 – 12 October 2006) was an Italian filmmaker associated with the political cinema movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for directing the landmark war docudrama '' The Battle of Algiers'' (19 ...

. The movie's plot concerns a secret "''

agent provocateur An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...

''" who arrives to manipulate a

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

on the fictional Portuguese colony of Queimada in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

.Movie database entry about the movie ''Queimada'' (''Burn'').
/ref>

References

* African American Registry (2005).
Norman Hill, an Activist for Black Labor
Retrieved March 3, 2007. * Blair Speech (2003)

Retrieved March 3, 2007.

(2000). Retrieved March 3, 2007.

(2006). Builder Awards: Norman Hill. Retrieved March 2, 2007. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Norman 1933 births Living people Activists for African-American civil rights Haverford College alumni People from Summit, New Jersey Members of Social Democrats USA