Max Morris (unionist) explained

Max Morris
Birth Date:9 June 1866
Birth Place:Mobile, Alabama
Death Place:Denver, Colorado
Occupation:Trade unionist, politician
Office1:Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
Term Start1:1899
Term End1:1904
Office2:3rd International President of the Retail Clerks International Union
Term Start2:1895
Term End2:1909
Predecessor2:Ed Mallory
Successor2:H. J. Conway

Max Morris (June 9, 1866  - June 6, 1909) was an American labor union leader and politician.

Biography

Max Morris was born in Mobile, Alabama on June 9, 1866, and moved to Breckenridge, Colorado in 1880.[1] In 1884, he became a retail clerk, and he organized a union of clerks based in Cripple Creek. In about 1890, he moved to Denver, where he founded the Denver Retail Clerks' Union, and he soon affiliated this to the new Retail Clerks' National Protective Association of America.[2] [3]

In 1896, Morris was elected as secretary-treasurer of the Retail Clerks, and from 1899, he also edited its journal, the Retail Clerks' National Advocate. That year, he was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives, representing the People's Party. He was elected again in 1901, this time representing the Democratic Party, serving until 1904.

Morris served as a vice-president of the American Federation of Labor from 1898. He died in Denver on June 6, 1909, still holding his trade union offices.[4]

References

  1. Max Morris, One of Labor's Great Leaders, Has Passed Away . Retail Clerks International Advocate . 16 . 7 . 13 . July 1909 . 2023-05-10 . Google Books.
  2. Book: The Samuel Gompers Papers . 1986 . University of Illinois Press . 9780252033896.
  3. Book: The New Encyclopedia of Social Reform . Bliss . William . 1909 . Funk & Wagnalls . 784 . 2023-05-10 . Internet Archive.
  4. Death of Max Morris, Fourth Vice-President of the A. F. of L. . Official Journal of the Travelers' Goods and Leather Novelty Workers' International Union of America . VI . 7 . Oshkosh, Wisconsin . 7 . July 1909 . 2023-05-10 . Google Books.