Chicago's Marshall Field & Co. is a 101-year-old pioneer in retailing practices; charge accounts, low-priced basement floor, free deliveries, and a money-back policy for dissatisfied shoppers. One area where Field's did no pioneering was race relations; in its century and more, the store had never hired a Negro in its huge retail operations.
In early 1950, the American Friends Service Committee launched a new "job-opportunities program" in Chicago, headed by Thomas Colgan, whose first step was to talk hiring practices with Field's the bellwether of State Street's big four (the other threeMandel Brothers,...
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