Ethelbert Stewart (1857–1936) was the commissioner of the

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of ...

(BLS) from 1921 to 1932. Stewart worked as a coffin-maker, then founded and edited labor newspapers. He was made the commissioner of labor for the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

in the 1880s.Ethelbert Stewart Papers, 1884-1933
at Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill He was made deputy commissioner of the BLS in 1913 along with other roles in the U.S. Department of Labor.Commissioners: Ethelbert Stewart
at bls.gov In that position he had a public role in how the organization should track women workers, child labor, and occupational injuries and illnesses. In the fall of 1913 he mediated a coal mining dispute involving the Rockefeller interests in Colorado and helped resolve the

Indianapolis streetcar strike of 1913 The Indianapolis streetcar strike of 1913 and the subsequent police mutiny and riots was a breakdown in public order in Indianapolis, Indiana. The events began as a workers strike by the union employees of the Indianapolis Traction & Termina ...

. It was hard to keep the Bureau staffed during World War I and Stewart advocated offering pensions to civil servants.Goldberg, Joseph P., and William T. Moye. 1985.
First hundred years of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
'. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin 2235. U.S. Government Printing Office. . Chapters 4 and 5. In 1920 he was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...

.List of ASA Fellows
, retrieved 2016-07-16. When commissioner Royal Meeker left in 1920, Stewart was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to take the top role, newly elected President Warren Harding re-nominated him, and Stewart was confirmed in 1921. The Bureau began issuing productivity statistics in this period, and increased coverage of wholesale prices, employment and unemployment, and industrial safety statistics.

Publications and archives

* Ethelbert Stewart
"1913=100"
, ''

Monthly Labor Review The ''Monthly Labor Review'' (''MLR'') is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. governmen ...

'' 15:2 (Aug. 1922), pp. 11–12. * Stewart's archives are kept at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ethelbert 1857 births 1936 deaths American civil servants Bureau of Labor Statistics People from Cook County, Illinois Fellows of the American Statistical Association Mathematicians from Illinois Woodrow Wilson administration personnel Harding administration personnel Coolidge administration personnel Hoover administration personnel