Earl George was a leader in the Communist Party and

International Longshore and Warehouse Union The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada; on the East Coast, the dominant union is the Intern ...

, photographer, and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Biography

Earl George was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, in 1894. George stated that being Black in the US radicalized him at an early age. He was also influenced by the violent Colorado miners' strikes. In 1917, George was drafted into the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

for

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 ...

and sent to

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: * Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado ** Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States ** Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort L ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He remained in

and participated in the

Seattle General Strike The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when ...

in 1919. When recalling the strike, George famously said "nothing moved but the tide".

Racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

hiring practices and racism in unions made many jobs unavailable for African Americans like George. In the 1920s and 1930s, George worked low-paying non-union jobs in the service sector and then became a maritime steward. During this time, he joined the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

, an international

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. He later joined The Communist Party of Washington State. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, George was involved in the Unemployed Citizens' League, Workers' Alliance, Washington Commonwealth Federation, and Washington Pension Union. In 1938, George took a job working in a warehouse and joined the

(ILWU)

Local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

9. He worked actively in the labor movement to promote racial equality. Although the ILWU preached nondiscrimination, Black workers and workers of color were often excluded from leadership positions. George worked with the communist faction within the ILWU to address these inequalities. He was elected president of

9 in 1949, making him the first Black president of an ILWU local. While serving as president, George worked with ILWU regional director Bill Chester to establish the National Negro Labor Council and campaigned to push unions to organize Black workers. Like many other activists at the time, George faced vicious

red-baiting Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging ( in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...

. In the early 1950s, George was

subpoenaed A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

to appear before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

, where he invoked the fifth amendment and declined to answer most questions. George was active in the civil rights movement in Seattle in the 1960s. In 1966, he helped organized the Seattle School Boycott to protest

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

. During this time, he became a well-known photographer and was hired by the ILWU to take photographs for their union organ, ''The Dispatcher''. His images also appeared in the Marxist newspaper ''

People's World ''People's World'', official successor to the '' Daily Worker'', is a Marxist-Leninist and American leftist national daily online news publication. Founded by activists, socialists, communists, and those active in the labor movement in the earl ...

''. George retired in 1961 and became active with the Pacific Coast Pensioners Association, holding various leadership positions in the Seattle chapter. He retired in 1961, and died in 1985.

Biography

References

Further reading