Union members picketing 
Southern Iowa coal mine
Central Iowa coal mine
John L. Lewis
Coal Mining Towns
Coal Workers UnionizeIowa Produces a Labor Leader
A
baby boy born in Cleveland, Iowa, in 1880 grew up to become a national labor
leader. John L. Lewis grew up in a family of Iowa miners. His dad and grandfather
worked for the Whitebreast Coal and Mining Company, the largest coal mining
company in southern Iowa. His parents were active in unionizing activities.
They moved around from one coal mining town to another in Iowa. His parents'
activities must have influenced John's thinking.
Although John held many different jobs—including newspaper boy, farmer,
miner, amateur actor and theater manager, he found his strength in organizing
miners. He joined the United Mine Workers (UMW) in 1900 when he was 20 years
old. He quickly moved up the ranks of the union movement. In 1909 he became
a lobbyist for the UMW at the Illinois state capital. In 1911 John was named
an organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the largest labor
federation in the world. Then in 1920 John Lewis was elected president of
the UMW.
In 1935 John broke his ties with the AFL and formed the Committee for Industrial
Organization (CIO). By 1939 the CIO had surpassed the AFL in membership. In
1955 the two groups combined to become the AFL-CIO. John remained president
of the UMW until 1960. The AFL-CIO continues to represent millions of workers
in a variety of professions.
A man with roots in Iowa became one of the most influential individuals in
the country's labor movement. John L. Lewis, a man who grew up in a small
Iowa town, impacted the lives of all of America's workers.
Sources:
- Iowa Historical Moment. State Historical Society of Iowa, 1991.
- "Labor in Iowa." Goldfinch Feb. 1989: 6.
