NAACP activist Walter White also attended the meeting between Randolph and President Roosevelt on June 18, 1941. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Walter F. White (1893-1955) was executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People when FDR was inaugurated in 1933. White, like many, sought a meeting with the new president, a meeting that took place only through the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt. White sought, but did not receive, the President’s support of the anti-lynching bill.

White was also interested in securing greater participation of African-Americans in New Deal programs. In 1940-1941, controversies arose over racial segregation in the armed forces and discrimination in federal defense employment. When labor leader A. Philip Randolph proposed a march on Washington, ER stepped in, and helped to secure the agreement of Randolph, White and other black leaders to E.O. 8802, which created the Fair Employment Practices Committee. White, along with other prominent black leaders, helped to educate Eleanor Roosevelt on racial matters. Their friendship and her activities on behalf of African-Americans often produced personal attacks against her, the President and White.