Ben Legere

Ben Legere
Ben Legere
Born	May 30, 1887
Died	January 29, 1972 (aged 84)
Occupation	Labor leader
Partner	Matilda Robbins

Ben Legere was a union organizer for the IWW and OBU within New England & Canada during the life of those labor groups.^[1]^[2]

In the 1900s, Legere lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut. There he worked as a machinist and railroad clerk. He was a member of the Socialist Party's industrial union wing and aided Connecticut textile workers during the spring of 1912. He also late coordinated speaking tours for Ettor-Giovanitti defense committee.^[1]

That fall, the IWW sent him to help textile strikers during the 1912–1913 Little Falls textile strike. He was quickly arrested on trumped charges, spending a year in jail until release. He then began a career as a professional actor. While touring Canada in 1919, he saw the unrest that led to the Winnipeg General Strike. He also became the General Executive Board of the Canadian One Big Union (OBU).^[2] At some point he ended up being deported to the United States by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for his beliefs but continued to advocate for the OBU.^[1]

At the end of 1920 he formally split with the Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union. This was following the 1920 wage cuts that would lead up to the 1922 New England Textile Strike. After those wage cuts, he came to Lawrence, Massachusetts (the same time he formally split) to organize for a strike. In 1922, he was one of the labor leaders of that textile strike.^[1]

Personal life

Benjamin J. Legere more commonly known as Ben Legere, was born in Tauton, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1887.^[3] Legere had a longtime relationship with another labor organizer, Matilda Robbins.^[4] They were parents together of a daughter, Vita, born in 1919.^[5] Robbins died in 1963, aged 76 years, in Oakland, California.^[6]^[7] Legere died on January 29, 1972.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Foner, Philip Sheldon; Foner, Philip Sheldon (January 1, 1991). History of the labor movement in the United States. 9: The T.U.E.L. to the end of the Gompers era / by Philip S. Foner. New York: Intl Publ. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-7178-0674-4.
^ ^a ^b "Walter P. Reuther Library (4941) Portrait, Ben Legere, 1910s-1920s". reuther.wayne.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
^ ^a ^b "Guide to the Ben Legere Papers LP000709" (PDF). Walter P. Reuther Library. August 7, 2020.
^ Thornton, Steve. "A Labor of Love – Bridgeport History Center". Bridgeport Library. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
^ Joyce Shaw Peterson, "Choosing Motherhood: Matilda Robbins' Story" Women's Studies 42(3)(2013): 271.
^ "Mrs. Matilda Robbins". The Fresno Bee. Fresno, CA. January 11, 1963. p. 28. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Matilda Robbins" Jewish Women's Archive (2017).