To Advance Their Opportunities chronicles the development of federal policies and programs impacting African American workers, examining the fascinating and rarely seen workings of federal bureaucracies as they attempted to rein in racism in the nation's federally funded workplaces. The book traces the hard-won gains made by African American workers and the crucial role of the civil rights movement and its supporters in urging the federal government to action. This scholarly and timely work also brings to light the little known story of the birth of affirmative action.