1987 Union Hall of Honor
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John Mitchell
"Boy Miner at age 12, President of the UMWA at age 22, under whose Leadership the Union Membership grew from 33,000 to 260,000."
As president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898 until 1908, Mitchell did a great deal to improve the conditions and stature of coal miners throughout the United States. Through lobbying state and federal government, Mitchell assured the miners greater pay and employment stability. Through his vigorous organizing efforts, Mitchell had made the United Mine Workers of America the nation's largest labor union by 1908.
Edward Nockels and John Fitzpatrick
"Men of principle and vision, shakers of the complacent and movers of what stood in the way. Twin builders of the Chicago Federation of Labor.”
Nockels began his career as an electrician and became secretary of the Chicago Federation of Labor from 1901 until 1937. He fostered labor solidarity with the establishment of WCFL in 1926 which served as a radio station representing "the voice of labor." During the New Deal era, Nockels fought for the social and political uplift of all working Americans by demanding that Roosevelt recognize the right to organize, collective bargaining, a law providing for the eight hour work day, and public ownership of utilities.
Throughout his career, Fitzpatrick wanted to eliminate corruption within organized labor as well as improve the welfare of the working class. In 1886 he joined Local 4 of the International Union of Journeymen Horseshoers. However, from 1905 until his death in 1946, Fitzpatrick represented the interests of all organized labor in Chicago as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.