On January 15, A. Philip Randolph calls for 10,000 African-Americans to march on Washington, D.C., to protest racial discrimination in hiring for defense industries. (Read Roi Ottley in The New Republic, November 10, 1941 reporting on Randolph and the threatened march.)

Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802 on June 25, prohibiting racial discrimination in hiring by federal departments and defense contractors and establishing a Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) to monitor compliance with the order. Randolph announces postponement of the march on June 28.

Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7.