23 Notable Leaders of the Labor Movement Click here for mounuments related to the labor movement. Click here for return to worldwide list of notable peacemakers (& for meaning of symbols).

1837-1930 - Mary Harris "Mother" Jones - Labor & community organizer. Co-founded Industrial Workers of the World.

1848-1887 - Albert Parsons - Labor leader. Hanged after the Haymarket Riot (Chicago 1886). Husband of Lucy González Parsons (qv).

1850

1850-1924 - Samuel Gompers - Cigar maker. Founded American Federation of Labor (AFofL) & its president 1886-1894 & 1895-1924.

1853-1942 - Lucy González Parsons - Labor leader. Probably born a slave. Outlived husband Albert Parsons (qv) by 55 years.

1862-1951 - Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor - Labor organizer & long-time activist in the socialist & communist movements.

1870-1919 - John Mitchell - US labor leader & president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898 to 1908.

1874-1940 - Lewis Wickes Hine - Sociologist. Used camera as a tool for social reform. Helped change US child labor laws.

1885-1967 - A. J. Muste - Clergyman & political activist. Worked in labor, pacifist & civil rights movements. P 1966

1886-1916 - Inez Milholland Boissevain - Suffragist, labor lawyer & opponent of World War I. P

1894-1980 - George Meany - President of American Federation of Labor 1952-1955. President of the combined AFL-CIO 1955-1979.

1896-1968 - Trygve Lie - Labor leader. Foreign minister in London 1940-1945. 1st Secretary General of the United Nations 1946-1952.

1900

1901-1990 - Harry Bridges - Union leader. Led Intl Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) over 40 years. Prosecuted in 1930s, 1940s & 1950s.

1907-1970 - Walter Reuther - Socialist in early 1930's. Then made United Automobile Workers a major force in auto industry & Democratic Party.

1912-1967 - Woody Guthrie - Singer-songwriter & folk musician. Sought justice for workers. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land."

1914-2010 - Theodore W. Kheel - Lawyer in New York City. Labor negotiator and arbitrator.

1918-2006 - Joe Glazer - Folk musician who recorded more than 30 albums. Closely associated with labor unions & often referred to as "Labor's Troubadour."

1927-1993 - César Chávez - Labor leader & civil rights activist. Co-founded National Farm Workers Association. 1989

1929-Alive - Krishna Ahooja-Patel - Gandhian. Worked for International Labor Organization 1962-1987. President of WILPF.

1930-Alive - Dolores Huerta - Labor leader & civil rights activist. Co-founder (w/César Chávez) of United Farm Workers (UFW). Latino community role model. Received numerous awards.

1934-Alive - John Sweeney - President of AFL-CIO 1995-2009. Author of "America Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security & Social Justice."

1938-Alive - Lilly Ledbetter - Plaintiff in employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Later became women's equality activist.

1949-1997 - Judi Bari - Environmentalist & labor leader, feminist & principal organizer of Earth First!.

1950

c1950-Alive - Tom Juravich - Professor of Labor Studies at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Also a musician & labor movement activist.