Dudley Randall's Poem "Ballad of Birmingham"

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Dudley Randall was born on January 19, 1914 in Washington D.C. and died on August 2, 2000 in Southfield, Michigan. His mother Ada Viloa was a teacher and his father Arthur George Clyde Randall was a Congregational minister. His father was very much into politics because of that Dudley and his brother would listen to prominent black speakers. When Randall was about nine years old he and his family move to Detroit, Michigan in 1920. By the time he was thirteen he had his first poem published in the Detroit Free Press. At the age of sixteen he had graduated from high school.

After graduation, he went to work for a blast furnace unit at a Ford Motor Company’ Rouge Plant. After working at Ford for five years Randall took a job with the United States Post Office as a clerk and letter carrier. In July of 1943, he was enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Corps, and served during World War II. After returning from the war, he went back to work to the post office. In 1949,while working in the post office he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and his Master’s degree in Library scien...

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