The Faces of Black America. Beautiful!

[Omaha Steve]

41. Mr NLRB the Honorable Howard Jenkins Jr

The finest man ever appointed to the NLRB. The deciding vote on the board to reinstate me when I was fired for union organizing in 1980.


Howard and President Ford


Howard and President Johnson

Jenkins was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in 1963 by the Democratic President Kennedy despite his life-long affiliation with the Republican party. His appointment coincided with the landmark civil rights legislation proposed by President John F. Kennedy, which was supported by civil rights organizations and their historic march on Washington, D.C., in 1963. The day after the historic march, Howard Jenkins, Jr., was sworn in as a member of the NLRB.

Republicans were much different in the early 60's. He resigned (retired) when Raygun was in office.

On August 27, 1983 Howard Jenkins, Jr. tenure on the NLRB came to a close. Howard dedicated twenty years of his life as a member on the NLRB. His record during these years illustrates that he believed that labor rights should be equally protected for all by the National Labor Relations Board. In Howard Jenkins, Jr. letter of resignation to President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, he stated that: " In my four terms spanning twenty years on the Board, under appointments by both Republican and Democratic Presidents, it has been a pleasure to have helped formulate many important principles and decisions which have, with court approval, become a major part of our national labor policy. Among these, and one in which I took the lead, is the now well-accepted principle that race and sex discrimination are unfair labor practices prohibited by the National Labor Relations Act"