Ben Fletcher

Ben Fletcher

Benjamin Harrison Fletcher (April 1890 – 1949) was an early 20th century African American labor leader and public speaker. He was a prominent member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or the "Wobblies"), the most influential radical union of his time. In an era when few African Americans were permitted in American unions and fewer still belonged to more liberal organizations, Fletcher was nationally known. Fletcher helped lead Local 8, the largest, most powerful, and longest lasting interracial union of the World War I era.

Read more about Ben Fletcher:  Early Life, IWW Involvement, Treason Arrest and Sentence, Post-release and Death, Legacy

Famous quotes containing the words ben and/or fletcher:

    Ye knowe eek, that in forme of speche is chaunge
    Withinne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho
    That hadden prys, now wonder nyce and straunge
    Us thinketh hem; and yet they spake hem so,
    And spedde as wel in love as men now do;
    Eek for to winne love in sondry ages,
    In sondry londes, sondry ben usages.
    Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400)

    Come, all sad and solemn shows,
    That are quick-eyed Pleasure’s foes!
    We convent nought else but woes,
    We convent nought else but woes.
    —John Fletcher (1579–1625)