Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, November 4, 2008
By Bill Kombol
John L. Lewis was often referred to as “the second most powerful man In America.”
As Americans take to the polls today to vote, they will elect a new president, the most powerful man in the country. During his day as leader of the United Mine Workers, John L. Lewis was often referred to as “the second most powerful man In America.”
During the 1920s through the 1950s, coal was the fuel that powered America. And with control of over 400,000 miners, Lewis often led his union to strike at opportune times when the country was most dependent upon coal.
Lewis was the driving force behind the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the second half of the acronym AFL-CIO. He worked tirelessly on behalf of his miners for better wages and safer working conditions.
According to Rich Miller, a retired coal miner from Roslyn, many coal miners’ homes revered three figures: “God, John L. Lewis, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.”
This portrait was personally inscribed by Lewis “to Mr. Jack Morris with warm personal regards.” Morris was the long time president of Palmer Coking Coal Co.
This framed portrait was donated by John H. “Jack” Morris’ daughter, Pauline Kombol, to the Black Diamond Historical Society and is on display at the museum.
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