Born in Summit, New Jersey, Norman Hiil received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Haverford College in 1956. After finishing military service, he joined the civil rights movement in Chicago and served as Chicago Coordinator. In the early 1960’s, Hill joined the the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), first as East Coast Field Secretary, then as National Program Director from 1961 to 1964.
During the 1960s, Hill led campaigns that integrated the work force at major companies throughout the country including the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, A &P stores, and the Trailways bus company and desegregated restaurants from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. Hill also served as staff coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington, and planned and directed the civil rights demonstration at the 1964 Republican Convention.
In 1964, Hill became Legislative Representative and Civil Rights Liaison for the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO. There, he lobbied for a higher minimum wage and helped organize Martin Luther King Jr.s get-out-the-vote drive in 1964. In 1968 he was in Memphis to assist Dr. King and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in support of the striking sanitation workers, when King was assassinated.
In 1965, Hill co-founded with Randolph and Bayard Rustin, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, (A.P.R.I.) to promote an alliance between blacks and organized labor.
Originally conceived as a think tank for the black-labor alliance, Hill turned the A.P.R.I. into a grassroots-based organization with 200 affiliates nationally. Composed mainly of black trade union activists, their voter participation drives have helped elect many pro-civil rights, pro-labor candidates at the state and national levels.
Hill expanded the scope of the APRI when he established a youth employment program in the 1970s to assist black high school dropouts. He also initiated an intern program to integrate the staffs of trade unions and the AFL-CIOs state federations. Hill was elected President of A.P.R.I. in 1980.
Hill has published articles in such journals as The New Leader, Social Policy, Dissent and the AFL-CIO News and has addressed audiences throughout the world, including France, Israel, Germany, South Africa and Brazil.
Norman Hill retired from the A. Philip Randolph Institute in 2004, but as President Emeritus of the A.P.R.I., he remains a tireless and dedicated activist stays involved in the Institutes activities. He continues to promote the vision of A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin through his work as a writer and speaker.