Arthur Orlando Wharton (November 9, 1873 – December 21, 1944) was an American labor union leader.

Arthur O. Wharton
Born
Arthur Orlando Wharton

(1873-11-09)November 9, 1873
Topeka, Kansas
DiedDecember 21, 1944(1944-12-21) (aged 71)
Tucson, Arizona
OccupationLabor leader
SpouseCeleste Ayers Wharton

Biography

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Wharton was born in Kansas, near Topeka. When he was six years old, his father died in a blizzard. Arthur began working at the age of thirteen, undertaking an apprenticeship as a machinist with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. He rose to become a foreman in Osawatomie, Kansas, then moved to St. Louis.[1][2]

Wharton was active in the International Association of Machinists, and became a business agent of his local in 1903. From 1908, he also served as secretary-treasurer of the union's Southwestern Consolidated Railway District. In 1915, he was elected as president of the American Federation of Labor's (AFL) Railway Employes' Department.[1]

During World War I, Wharton served on the Committee on Labor of the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense. From 1918, he stepped back from his AFL post, while retaining the title. He instead served on the Railroad Administration Board of Railroad Wages and Working Conditions, and from 1920 instead on the Railroad Labor Board.[1]

In 1922, Wharton officially left his AFL post, but he remained active in the Machinists, and in 1926 was elected as the union's president, serving until 1939. Under his leadership, the union's membership increased from 45,000 to 180,000. From 1928 to 1940, he was also a vice president of the AFL.[1][2]

He died in Tucson, Arizona on December 21, 1944.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d The Samuel Gompers Papers. University of Illinois Press. 1986. ISBN 9780252033896.
  2. ^ a b "National Affairs". TIME. October 4, 1937.
  3. ^ "Ex-AFL Leader Dies in Tucson". Arizona Daily Star. December 22, 1944. p. 13. Retrieved May 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Trade union offices
Preceded by President of the Railway Employes' Department
1915–1922
Succeeded by
Bert M. Jewell
Preceded by
William Hugh Johnston
President of the International Association of Machinists
1926–1939
Succeeded by
Preceded by Sixth Vice-President of the American Federation of Labor
1931–1934
Succeeded by
Preceded by Fifth Vice-President of the American Federation of Labor
1934–1940
Succeeded by