Saul, George J. "The Making of a Rebel in America, An Unfinished Autobiography" Manuscript, 1969
Collection Number: 5491m
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
George J. Saul "The Making of a Rebel in America, An Unfinished Autobiography" Manuscript, 1969
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5491m
Abstract:
"The Making of A Rebel in America: An Unfinished Autobiography" by George James Saul
(May 24, 1897-January 27, 1967), with an introduction by William Edward Saul.
Creator:
Saul, George J.
Quanitities:
1 folders
Language:
Collection material in English
Labor activist, union organizer, social theorist and Trotskyite.
George Saul was active in the union movement during the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s.
During this period, Saul was involved in a number of significant struggles between
labor and capital, including the I.W.W.-led strike of miners against the Rockefeller
owned Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in 1927 and the communist-led strike of textile
workers in Gastonia, N.C. in 1929. He was also involved in organizing Ford employees
in Detroit in the 1930s and early 1940s. While a member of the United Automobile Workers
(CIO), Saul was constantly at odds with the union leadership and, as a result, left
the union movement shortly after the end of World War II. Saul was also active in
the Communist Party during the 1920s, turning to Trotskyism in the 1930s because of
disagreements with the party leadership over tactics and general principles.
Consists of a single draft of an uncompleted autobiography. The bulk of the autobiography
concerns Saul's life prior to his becoming involved with the union movement. The aspects
of Saul's life discussed include his childhood in Colorado, his experiences in the
army during World War I, and his years as a college student in Dvner during the 1920s.
The latter part of the manuscript cursorily covers Saul's union activities, including
his participation in the Colorado Fuel and Iron and Gastonia strikes. Also included
in the latter part is a brief discussion of the formation of the UAW in Detroit. The
manuscript also briefly covers the impact of the Sacco and Vanzetti case on the development
of Saul's radicalism; the need to organize black workers, particularly in the South;
the author's reasons for leaving the union movment; and his reasons for defecting
to Trotskyism.
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INFORMATION FOR USERS
George J. Saul "The Making of a Rebel in America, An Unfinished Autobiography" Manuscript
#5491m. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
Library.
Names:
Communist Party of the United States of America
Fourth International
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers
of America
Sacco, Nicola, 1891-1927
Saul, George James, 1897-1967
Vanzetti, Bartolomeo, 1888-1927
Subjects:
African Americans -- Employment -- Southern States
Coal Strike, Colo., 1927
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial, Dedham, Mass., 1921
Labor unions and communism -- United States
Labor unions -- Organizing
Labor unions, Black -- Membership -- United States
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
CONTAINER LIST
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Box 1 |
The Making of a Rebel in America: An Unfinished Autobiography
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1969 | |
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Scope and Contents
By George James Saul, with an introduction by William Edward Saul; 81 pages.
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