- William J. Spencer
William J. Spencer (1867 - 1933) was an American labor leader who was secretary-treasurer of the Building Trades Department of the
American Federation of Labor from its founding nearly continuously until his death in 1933.Spencer was born in
Hamilton, Ontario , in 1867. He became a plumber and emigrated toBuffalo, New York , in 1894, were he joined Local 36 of the Journeymen Plumbers.Spencer was elected secretary-treasurer of the international Plumbers' union in 1897. In 1900, he was appointed "general organizer" of the union.
In 1903, Spencer was elected secretary-treasurer of the
Structural Building Trades Alliance (SBTA). He served until 1908, when the SBTA affiliated with theAmerican Federation of Labor (AFL) and became the Building Trades Department (BTD). He was elected secretary-treasurer of the BTD, and served until 1924. He was elected to the same office again in 1927, and served until his death in 1933.In 1904, Spencer was elected eighth vice-president of the AFL. He served one year.
Spencer lived in
Dayton, Ohio , from 1903 to 1912, after which he lived inWashington, D.C. References
*"Glossary." In "The Samuel Gompers Papers, Vol. 6: The American Federation of Labor and the Rise of Progressivism, 1902-6." Stuart J Kaufman, Peter J. Albert, and Grace Palladino, eds. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1997. ISBN 025202303X
*Palladino, Grace. "Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits." Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005. ISBN 0801443202
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