- Sewell Avery
Sewell Avery (1874-1955) was an American businessman.
Born in a wealthy family of
lumber baron s inMichigan , Avery was afinancier of theAmerican Liberty League and a National Advisor for one of its front organizations, the Crusaders. Avery also gave generously to theChurch League of America (CLA). He was a favorite of the anti-New Deal movement and was a staunch opponent to theNational War Labor Board .cite journal|url=http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/avery.html|title=Facing the Corporate Roots of American Fascism: Sewell Avery (1874-1955)|author=Richard Sanders|journal=Press for Conversion!|issue=53|date=March 2004] [cite journal|title=The Avery Problem|journal=Time Magazine |date=June 19, 1944|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,711804,00.html] Richard Sanders wrote:"Avery defiedFranklin D. Roosevelt ’s New Deal by refusing to pay $30,000, as prescribed by theNational Recovery Act . Despite this defiance, his vice president atMontgomery Ward (Frank Folsom ) was appointed to FDR’sNational Defense Advisory Commission (1940-1941). DuringWorld War II , Avery would not comply with government orders to allow unionization efforts. As a result, National Guardsmen carried him from his office in 1944. “To hell with the government,” he blurted out at the Attorney General, “You... New Dealer!”"As a businessman, Avery was president of Montgomery Ward, director of
J.P. Morgan ’sU.S. Steel and president ofU.S. Gypsum . [cite journal|title=The Perils of Success|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1994/3/1994_3_20.shtml|author=John Steele Gordon|date=May 1994|volume=45|issue=3|journal=American Heritage Magazine] In 1955, Sewell retired with a fortune of $327 million.References
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