On this day in labor history, the year was 1902.
That was the day more than 100 trade union delegates representing thousands of working people in St. Paul, Minnesota elected Charles James to be the president of the city’s Trades and Labor Assembly.
Virtually forgotten by history, James is considered to be the first African American elected to a city labor council anywhere in America.
He was born in 1866 in St. Paul and began working as a leather cutter for local shoe manufacturers at age 15.
This was at a time when most African Americans were excluded from skilled trades.
His biographer, Dave Riehle, asserts that it is unclear when James became involved in union politics and organizing.
Shoe making was the largest mass production industry in St. Paul, employing thousands.
Riehle notes the Knights of Labor had been active in the city during the 1880s and shoe workers were among the first to organize.
By 1899, James had become the first president of a newly formed shoe workers union in Minneapolis and helped to found three more locals in St. Paul.
By 1902, James was well known and well respected throughout the Twin Cities as a strong union leader.
He served three terms as president of the Trades Assembly and then as secretary for seven more years.
Riehle states that James continued as full time organizer and district business agent, traveling to cities across the Midwest to organize shoe workers.
When he died in 1923, the Boot and Shoe Workers Union eulogized him in their national journal.
Though James had been obscured from local labor history for decades, Riehle and others have worked to write Charles James back into the history books.
April 1 - The Promise of 1946
March 31 - Hospital Workers Stand United
March 30 - 15th Amendment Adopted
March 29 - West Coast Hotel v Parrish Decided
March 28 - Partial Meltdown at Three Mile Island
March 27 - FE Strikers Battle Police at Harvester
March 26 - Police Attack UE Amid ‘46 Strike Wave
March 25 - Centralia Coal Mine #5 Explodes
March 24 - Exxon Valdez Runs Aground
March 23 - Texas City Refinery Explosion Kills 15
March 22 - ERA Passes the Senate
March 21 - Truman Signs Loyalty Order
March 20 - Another Deadly Explosion
March 19 - Wartime President Pushes for Labor Peace
March 18 - Wartime Workers Betrayed
March 17 - The Hoggs Hollow Tragedy
March 16 - Big Bill Haywood Talks General Strike
March 15 - The Grapes of Wrath Opens in Theaters
March 14 - Remembering Walter Crane
March 13 - Ending Jim Crow on the Job
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast