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

Biography

Wharton was born in Kansas, near

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

. 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 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

. He rose to become a foreman in

Osawatomie, Kansas Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, Miami County, Kansas, United States, southwest of Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a ...

, then moved to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Wharton was active in the

International Association of Machinists The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing over 600,000 workers as of 2024 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

, 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 The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

's (AFL) Railway Employes' Department. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Wharton served on the Committee on Labor of the Advisory Commission of the

Council of National Defense The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial s ...

. 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. 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. He died in Tucson, Arizona on December 21, 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Arthur O. 1873 births 1944 deaths American trade union leaders International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers people People from Topeka, Kansas Trade unionists from Kansas Vice presidents of the American Federation of Labor