Philip F. Rubio

Philip F. Rubio (born May 14, 1950) is an American historian. He is a professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University who specializes in 20th century U.S. civil rights and labor struggles.

Early life and education Rubio was born on May 14, 1950, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He began working as a postal carrier while living in Colorado which he continued when he moved to Durham, North Carolina to pursue his post-secondary school education. While earning his Bachelor of Arts and Master's degree, he worked full-time for the Colorado and North Carolina post office from 1980 until 2000. During his time there, he became more interested in black history and was inspired by Pauli Murray's book Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family. He eventually retired from the post office in 2000 after earning a Mellon Fellowship to pursue his doctoral degree at Duke University which he received in 2006.

Career Upon earning his PhD, Rubio became a teaching fellow and adjunct instructor at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University As a result, Rubio received the 2011 Rita Lloyd Moroney Book Award from the United States Postal Service (USPS).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, United States President Donald Trump refused to grant any additional funding to the USPS because he wanted to prevent any increase in balloting by mail. In response to Trump's efforts of blocking postal services, Rubio wrote his third book titled Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 to the Manufactured Crisis of the U.S. Postal Service.

Selected publications Undelivered: From the Great Postal Strike of 1970 to the Manufactured Crisis of the U.S. Postal Service (2020) There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality (2010) A History of Affirmative Action 1619-2000 (2001)