William Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Wilson in 1913 | |
| 1stUnited States Secretary of Labor | |
| In office March 5, 1913 – March 5, 1921 | |
| President | Woodrow Wilson |
| Preceded by | Office established Charles Nagel asSecretary of Commerce and Labor |
| Succeeded by | James Davis |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's15th district | |
| In office March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1913 | |
| Preceded by | Elias Deemer |
| Succeeded by | Edgar Kiess |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1862-04-02)April 2, 1862 |
| Died | May 25, 1934(1934-05-25) (aged 72) |
| Political party | Democratic |
William Bauchop Wilson (April 2, 1862 – May 25, 1934) was an American labor leader and progressive politician,[1][2] who immigrated as a child with his family fromLanarkshire, Scotland. After having worked as a child and adult in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, he became active as a labor organizer.
Wilson is best remembered for his service as the firstSecretary of Labor (1913–21) in the United States, serving through the years of American participation in the Great War.PresidentWoodrow Wilson (no relation) nominated him to the office.
William B. Wilson was born inBlantyre,Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the third child of Adam Black Wilson and Helen Nelson (Bauchop) Wilson, and the first to survive early childhood.[3] His father was acoal miner.
During a mining strike in February 1868, the family was evicted from their company-owned home as the company tried to suppress the strike.[3] His father Adam Wilson traveled around Scotland unsuccessfully trying to find other work. He ultimately decided to emigrate to the United States to find employment there, and left his wife and three children, sailing by ship across the Atlantic in April 1870.[3]
Adam Wilson found work in thebituminous coal region ofPennsylvania, settling in the little town ofArnot, located inTioga County.[3] After finding a job, he sent for his wife and family. Together with his father-in-law, they departedGlasgow for the United States in August 1870.[3]
Immediately after arriving in the United States, the boy William Wilson was enrolled inpublic school in Arnot.[4] This interval proved to be short-lived, however, as his father began to suffer serious back problems and was unable to complete his work without assistance. At the age of 9, William was removed from school and sent to help his father in the mines.[4] He continued to work as a miner for nearly two decades.
In 1874, young William engaged in labor organizing for the first time when he attempted to launch a union for the boys who worked astrappers, manually operating the ventilation of the mines.[4] When the fledgling union threatened a strike over a wage reduction, union representative Wilson discovered the limits of union solidarity. He was paddled by a foreman and the incipient strike was broken.[4]
The event proved to be a valuable learning experience for Wilson, who later recalled in his unpublished memoirs:
His argument had been forceful and effective, but it was applied to the wrong part of my anatomy to be permanently convincing.... It helped impress upon my mind the fact that until working men were as strong, collectively, as their employers, they would be forced...to accept whatever conditions were imposed upon them.[5]
In 1876, when Wilson was just 14 years old, there was declining membership in the local Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association. They selected Wilson, the energetic youngster, as the organization's Secretary.[4] He began to correspond with other labor activists around the country, laying the groundwork for his career as a trade union organizer and leader.[4]
He served as international secretary-treasurer of theUnited Mine Workers of America from 1900 to 1908.
He was elected as a Democrat fromPennsylvania's 15th congressional district to theSixtieth,Sixty-first, andSixty-second Congresses. He served as chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Labor during the Sixty-second Congress. Wilson was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912 and for election in 1914.
He was appointedUnited States Secretary of Labor in the Cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson and served from March 5, 1913, to March 5, 1921. One of the first efforts he focused on was getting underway the newly createdUnited States Conciliation Service, whose purpose was to providemediation forlabor disputes.[6] During theFirst World War, he was a member of theCouncil of National Defense. The administration was working to encourage African-American support for the war effort, both among men who served and those who were working in war industries.
Among his special assistants wasGeorge Edmund Haynes, 1918 to 1921, who was the first African American to earn a doctorate fromColumbia University. Haynes served as Director of Negro Economics in the United States Department of Labor. Competition was fierce for the higher-paying jobs in the defense industries, and duringRed Summer of 1919, whites attacked blacks in numerous cities. Haynes tried to mitigate racial conflict in employment, housing, and recreation. He also continued his earlier work in studying how blacks were excluded from certain trade unions, interracial conditions in the workplace, and issues in child labor.[7]
Wilson was a member of the Federal Board for Vocational Education from 1914 to 1921 and served as chairman of the board in 1920 and 1921. He was appointed on March 4, 1921, a member of theInternational Joint Commission, created to prevent disputes regarding the use of the boundary waters between the United States andCanada, and served until March 21, 1921, when he resigned.
In December 1916, Wilson addressed a conference on social insurance in which he discussed State developments in that field, such as the provision of mothers' pensions and workmen's compensation, and also spoke of the possibility of the United States introducing old-age pensions and universal health insurance.[8] The Department of Labor had earlier in Wilson's term expressed favor towards an invitation to attend an International Conference on Social Insurance.[9]
Wilson was an unsuccessful candidate for election to theUnited States Senate in1926 against RepublicanWilliam Scott Vare.[10] After his public service he was engaged inmining andagricultural pursuits nearBlossburg, Pennsylvania.
He died on board a train nearSavannah, Georgia on May 25, 1934.[1] He was buried in Arbon Cemetery in Blossburg.[11]
In 2007, Wilson was named to the U.S. Department of Labor'sLabor Hall of Fame. It is located inside the North Plaza of the headquarters at theFrances Perkins Building on 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.[12]
WM. B. WILSON social insurance.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 15th congressional district 1907–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Labor Committee 1911–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New office | United States Secretary of Labor 1913–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (Class 3) 1926 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by William Charles Pearce | Secretary-Treasurer of theUnited Mine Workers of America 1900–1908 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American Federation of Labor delegate to theTrades Union Congress 1910 With:Thomas V. O'Connor | Succeeded by Daniel J. Tobin William B. Macfarlane |
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| Education and Labor (1867–1883) |  | |
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| Education (1883–1947) | ||
| Labor (1883–1947) | ||
| Education and Labor* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedEconomic and Educational Opportunities in 104th Congress andEducation and the Workforce in 105th through 109th and 112th through 115th Congresses. | |
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