Max Morris (June 9, 1866 – June 6, 1909) was an American labor union leader and politician.

Biography

Max Morris was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

on June 9, 1866, and moved to

Breckenridge, Colorado Breckenridge is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule town that is the county seat and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, Summit County, Colorado, United ...

in 1880. In 1884, he became a retail clerk, and he organized a union of clerks based in Cripple Creek. In about 1890, he moved to

Denver 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 ...

, where he founded the Denver Retail Clerks' Union, and he soon affiliated this to the new Retail Clerks' National Protective Association of America. In 1896, Morris was elected as secretary-treasurer of the Retail Clerks, and from 1899, he also edited its journal, the ''Retail Clerks' National Advocate''. That year, he was elected to the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

, representing the People's Party. He was elected again in 1901, this time representing the Democratic Party, serving until 1904. Morris served as a vice-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 ...

from 1898. He died in Denver on June 6, 1909, still holding his trade union offices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Max 1866 births 1909 deaths American trade union leaders Members of the Colorado House of Representatives People from Mobile, Alabama People's Party (United States) politicians Trade unionists from Alabama Vice presidents of the American Federation of Labor Retail Clerks International Union leaders 19th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly 20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly