Leon Wickersham Oral History

Leon Wickersham Oral History

Leon Wickersham began his career in Lithography working for the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1948 he moved to Racine, Wisconsin, to work for Western Publishing Company as a stripper in the lithography department. His first experience in the ALA was as a representative of the strippers on the local union executive board. From the position of strippers’ representative he was elected president of his local and found himself immediately on strike. The strike eventually led to Wickersham’s appointment as International representative in 1956. Wickersham discusses union politics as they developed in the late fifties and tells how he was appointed as President Ken Brown’s personal assistant in 1959, a post he still holds today. Wickersham related how General Counsel Ben Robinson had to step down in1962 and discusses the relationship of the general counsel to the union. Wickersham discusses the merger between the Photoengravers and the Lithographers in 1964, and relates how opposition to the merger led the New York Local One to leave the organization. Wickersham closes the interview by reflecting on the problem of sex discrimination, the GAUI, and the future of his industry and his union.

Hoffman, Alice M.

Wickersham, Leon, 1922-

1975-12-10

Chicago; Los Angeles; 1930-1971