{{Short description|American labor unionist and politician (1872–1955)}} {{Infobox person | name = John H. Walker | image = John H. Walker (NARA - 26432775) (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Walker in 1918 | birth_name = John Hunter Walker | birth_date = {{birth date|1872|4|27}} | birth_place = [[Binniehill]], Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1955|8|27|1872|4|27}} | death_place = | resting_place = | other_names = | alma_mater = | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|labor organizer}} | years_active = | employer = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = | children = | signature = }} '''John Hunter Walker''' (April 27, 1872<ref name="fink">{{cite book |last1=Fink |first1=Gary |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Labor |date=1984 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=0313228655}}</ref> – August 27, 1955) was a Scottish-born American labor unionist and politician.
{{Socialism US}}
Born in [[Binniehill]], in Scotland, Walker emigrated to the United States with his family in 1881. They settled in [[Braidwood, Illinois]], and the same year, Walker began working at a colliery in [[Coal City, Illinois]]. Two years later, he joined the [[Knights of Labor]], aged just 11.<ref name="papers">{{cite book |title=The Samuel Gompers Papers |date=1986 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252033896}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Aspinwall |first1=Bernard |title=The Scots-American Connection |date=1984 |publisher=Aberdeen University Press |location=Aberdeen |isbn=9780080304014}}</ref>
Walker later returned to Scotland, but soon came back to the United States. He joined the [[United Mine Workers of America]] and soon became a full-time organizer for the union, covering [[West Virginia]].<ref name="papers" /> In that role, he met [[Mother Jones]], and quickly became her closest associate in the union.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steel |first1=Edward |title=The speeches and writings of Mother Jones |date=1988 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh |isbn=9780822935759}}</ref>
Walker later settled in [[Danville, Illinois]], and in 1905, he was elected to the executive board of the union's District 12. He served as president of the district, from 1906 to 1909, and from 1910 to 1913. He was a supporter of the [[Socialist Party of America]], and in 1906 he ran unsuccessfully for the [[United States House of Representatives]].<ref name="papers" />
In 1913, Walker was elected as president of the Illinois State Federation of Labor, serving until 1919, and again from 1920 to 1930. In 1915, he was a founder of the Illinois State Cooperative Society, and he served as its president until 1921; and in 1917, he served on the President's Mediation Commission.<ref name="papers" />
In 1916, Walker was expelled from the Socialist Party, and in 1919 he joined what soon became the [[Farmer–Labor Party]]. He was elected as national chairman of the party, and stood for it unsuccessfully in the [[1920 Illinois gubernatorial election]].<ref name="papers" />
Walker stood unsuccessfully for the presidency of the United Mine Workers in 1916, and again in 1918.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Philip Sheldon |last2=Lewis |first2=Ronald |title=The Black Worker |date=1978 |publisher=Temple University Press}}</ref> He was an opponent of [[John L. Lewis]], United Mine Workers president from 1920. In 1929, he participated in a conference of Illinois coal miners opposed to Lewis, and Lewis used this pretext to persuade [[American Federation of Labor]] president [[William Green (U.S. labor leader)|William Green]] to remove him from his Illinois Federation post. In 1930, the opposition group formed the Reorganized United Mine Workers of America, with Walker as secretary-treasurer. However, within months, Walker won an election for the presidency of District 12, against the wishes of Lewis.<ref name="papers" /><ref name="long">{{cite news |title=John H. Walker dies; long time labor leader |work=Chicago Tribune |date=August 29, 1955}}</ref>
In 1932, Walker negotiated a new contract with coal mine owners, which led to pay cuts of up to 30%. Despite attracting severe criticism, he held on as president. He stood down in 1944, to campaign for the re-election of the governor of Illinois, [[Dwight H. Green]]. After Green won, Walker was appointed to the Illinois Commerce Commission. He retired in 1948, and died seven years later.<ref name="long" /><ref>{{cite news |title=John H. Walker |newspaper=Washington Post |date=August 29, 1955}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{start box}} {{s-npo|union}} {{succession box|title=President of the [[United Mine Workers of America]] District No. 12|years=1906–1909|before=Herman C. Perry|after=Duncan McDonald}} {{succession box|title=President of the [[United Mine Workers of America]] District No. 12|years=1910–1913|before=Duncan McDonald|after=[[Frank Farrington (unionist)|Frank Farrington]]}} {{succession box|title=President of the Illinois Federation of Labor|years=1913–1919|before=Edwin R. Wright|after=Duncan McDonald}} {{succession box|title=President of the Illinois Federation of Labor|years=1920–1930|before=Duncan McDonald|after=[[Reuben G. Soderstrom]]}} {{succession box|title=President of the [[United Mine Workers of America]] District No. 12|years=1931–1944|before=Harry Fishwick|after=Hugh White}} {{succession box|title=[[American Federation of Labor]] delegate to the [[Trades Union Congress]]|years=1912|with=[[George L. Berry]]|before=[[Daniel J. Tobin]]|before2=W. B. Macfarlane|after=[[Charles L. Baine]]|after2=[[Louis Kemper]]}} {{end box}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, John H.}} [[Category:1872 births]] [[Category:1955 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American trade unionists]] [[Category:Illinois Farmer–Laborites]] [[Category:People from Falkirk (council area)]] [[Category:Scottish emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Socialist Party of America politicians]] [[Category:United Mine Workers of America people]]