Labor Union Leaders
Samuel Gompers
Gompers was born in 1850 into a Jewish family in London, he began making cigars alongside his father at the age of 10. In 1863, his entire family emigrated to New York City. Gompers continued rolling cigars at home with his father until he found work in one of the local shops. In 1864, he joined Local 15 of the United Cigar Makers. In 1875, he was elected president of the reorganized Local 144 of the Cigar Makers' International Union (CMIU). In 1880s, Gompers also helped establishing the Fderation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions(FOTLU), which he served as vice president from 1881 to 1886. When the FOTLU re-organized in 1886 as the American Federation of Labor, Gompers was elected its first president, a position he held for nearly 40 years.1
Terence Powderly
Terence Powderly was born on January 22, 1849, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He was a Irish immigrant. Early in his life, he had scarlet fever, which damaged one ear.2 He worked as a machinist and joined the Knights of Labor in 1874. Five years later, he was appointed as grand master workman which was the union's highest post. Powderly was also a member of the Greenback Labor Party. And he was elected three times as mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, serving from 1878 to 1884.3
1. "Samuel Gompers (1850-1924)." AFL-CIO America's Unions. AFL-CIO, 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://www.aflcio.org/About/Our-History/Key-People-in-Labor-History/Samuel-Gompers-1850-1924>.
2. Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Pennsylvania State University, 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Powderly__Terence.html>.
3. "Terence Powderly." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApowderly.htm>.
2. Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Pennsylvania State University, 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Powderly__Terence.html>.
3. "Terence Powderly." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApowderly.htm>.