{{Short description|American labor leader (1873–1949)}} {{Infobox person | name = Victor Olander | image = Victor Olander (NARA - 26432775) (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Olander in 1918 | birth_name = Victor A. Olander | birth_date = {{birth date|1873|11|28}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1949|2|5|1873|11|28}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | resting_place = Mount Olive Cemetery | other_names = | alma_mater = | occupation = {{hlist|Labor organizer|businessman}} | years_active = | employer = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = {{marriage|Grace Elizabeth Cervenka|1902}} | children = 2 | signature = }} '''Victor A. Olander''' (November 28, 1873 – February 5, 1949) was an American labor union leader.
==Early life== Victor A. Olander was born on November 28, 1873, in Chicago. He had Norwegian–Swedish ancestry.<ref name="tribune">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-victor-olander-labor-le/190966098/ |title=Victor Olander, Labor Leader, is Dead at 75 |date=1949-02-06 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2026-02-09}}{{Open access}}</ref> He attended public school for six years before becoming a factory worker. After two years, he began working as a sailor on the Great Lakes at the age of 14. He then studied the law relating to seafarers.<ref name="tribune"/><ref name="papers">{{cite book |title=The Samuel Gompers Papers |date=1986 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252033896}}</ref><ref name="isf">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/illinoisstatefed00owen/page/2/mode/2up |title=The Illinois State Federation of Labor During World War I |last=Owen |first=Nancy Wilson |publisher=Eastern Illinois University |year=1971 |page=2 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2026-02-10}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="shipping">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000dela_t9w1/mode/2up |title=A Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Shipping Industry: Since the Introduction of Steam |last=De La Pedraja |first=René |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1994 |pages=456–457 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2026-02-10}}</ref>
==Career== In 1899, Olander joined the Lake Seamen's Union, an affiliate of the International Seamen's Union (ISU).<ref name="tribune"/><ref name="papers"/> He was active in the Chicago labor movement and was a delegate from the sailor's union to the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois State Federation of Labor.<ref name="tribune"/> In 1901, Olander was elected as business agent of the Lake Seamen, then as assistant secretary in 1903. In 1902, he was additionally elected as the second vice-president of the ISU.<ref name="papers"/><ref name="isf"/> In 1909, Andrew Furuseth offered Olander the role of president of the ISU, but Olander declined it.<ref name="shipping"/> From 1909 to 1920, he served as general secretary of the sailor's union of the Great Lakes. From 1914 to his death, he was secretary-treasurer of the Illinois Federation of Labor.<ref name="tribune"/><ref name="isf"/> He remained the head of the Great Lakes local chapter of the ISU.<ref name="shipping"/> In 1913, he joined the ISU's legislative committee. In 1925, he was elected as the union's secretary-treasurer.<ref name="tribune"/> He helped pass the Lloyd–La Follette Act in the U.S. Congress.<ref name="tribune"/><ref name="papers" />
During the Great Depression, Olander refused to support sailors' requests for emergency food and shelter. He was quoted saying that the ISU "is not organizing flophouse unions". Criticism of Olander caused him to leave his ISU role in 1935.<ref name="shipping"/> During World War I, he served on the Illinois State Council of Defense, the National War Labor Board, and a local draft appeals board.<ref name="tribune"/><ref name="papers" /> He was a member of the resolutions committee of the American Federation of Labor and served as its secretary from 1927 to 1933.<ref name="tribune"/>
==Personal life== Olander married Grace Elizabeth Cervenka on May 26, 1902. They had two daughters, Ruth and Grace Elizabeth.<ref name="tribune"/> He was friends with William Z. Foster, but their relationship soured.<ref name="tribune"/>
In 1916, Olander got cataracts and started to lose his sight. By 1919, he was completely blind. In 1925, he had an operation to fix his blindness.<ref name="tribune"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-belleville-news-democrat-victor-olan/190968290/ |title=Victor Olander Regains Sight |date=1925-11-26 |newspaper=Belleville Daily News-Democrat |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2026-02-09}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Olander lived on North Mason Avenue in Chicago.<ref name="tribune"/> He died on February 5, 1949, at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. He was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery.<ref name="tribune"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}
{{start box}} {{s-npo|union}} {{succession box|title=Secretary of the Lake Seamen's Union|years=1909–1920|before=William Penje|after=Patrick O'Brien}} {{succession box|title=Secretary-Treasurer of the Illinois Federation of Labor|years=1914–1949|before=James F. Morris|after=Earl J. McMahon}} {{succession box|title=Secretary-Treasurer of the International Seamen's Union|years=1925–1936|before=K. B. Nolan|after=Ivan Hunter}} {{end box}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olander, Victor}} Category:1873 births Category:1949 deaths Category:American blind people Category:American trade union leaders Category:Activists from Chicago Category:Trade unionists from Illinois