John l lewis biography

President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1920 until 1960 and founding president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), John Llewellyn Lewis was the dominant voice shaping the labor movement in the 1930s.

The CIO owed its existence in large measure to Lewis, who was a tireless and effective advocate of industrial unionism and of government assistance in organizing basic industry.

John L. Lewis was born in Lucas, Iowa, on Feb.12, 1880, to Tom Lewis, a coal miner from Wales, and Ann Watkins, the daughter of a founder of the local Mormon church (RLDS).

The first of seven children, Lewis completed nearly 10 years of formal education before joining his father in the mines at age 16. As a young man, Lewis served as the recording secretary of UMWA Local 1933. In 1901 he headed West, where he "rode the rails" for four years and experienced firsthand the hardships of workers across the country.

Lewis returned to Lucas in 1905, and in 1907 marr