Samuel Ringgold Ward, First President of the American League of
Colored Laborers Image Ownership: Public Domain The American
League of Colored Laborers (ALCL) was the first black American
labor union. It was formed in New York City in 1850 as a
collective for skilled free craftsmen, and sought to develop
agricultural and industrial arts skills among its members, and
to encourage African American business. Frederick Douglass
helped organize the union in response to the difficulty black
laborers had in joining white unions. On June 13, 1850, the
organization assembled for its inaugural meeting in the lecture
room of Zion’s church on the corner of Leonard and Church
streets. There, the League appointed New York minister Samuel
Ringgold Ward as its president, and Henry Bibb of Michigan as
its secretary. Douglass agreed to act as vice-president. Notably
all three men were activists know more for their work to abolish
slavery than their efforts on behalf of working class people.
Nonetheless Douglass’s involvement,