Frans Reinhold Cedervall (1904-1996) was a Swedish-American plasterer and labor organizer most well known for his time as a leading figure in 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 ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He was the lead organizer of the Metal and Machinery Workers Industrial Union and leader of its Cleveland Local 440. Cedervall joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1931 and was a

soapbox A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment ...

speaker for the organization. After years of arrests and physical attacks, Cedervall stopped organizing on behalf of the organization, though he maintained membership until his death. Future Teamsters leader

Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (; born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975, declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 to 1971. He i ...

learned about public speaking from Cedervall, saying "I was with the IWW, and I followed Frank Cedervall around and learned how to make speeches from him. You spoke on a table top in a park, and you had to holler loud enough to be heard." Cedervall died in 1996 at LakeWest Hospital in

Willoughby, Ohio Willoughby is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 23,959 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropol ...

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Interview
Wayne State University 1904 births 1996 deaths Industrial Workers of the World leaders Trade unionists from Ohio Activists from Cleveland {{trade-unionist-bio-stub