Harry Lundeberg

Harrald Olaf Lundeberg (March 25, 1901 – January 28, 1957) was a Norwegian-American merchant seaman and labor leader who served as the first president of the Seafarers International Union from 1938 to 1957.

Biography Lundeberg left his home in Oslo, Norway at age 14, joined the Seamen's Union of Australia in 1917 and transferred into the Sailors' Union of the Pacific in Seattle He sailed for 21 years on sailing ships and steamers of a variety of flags, At its height, at least 8,000 west coast sailors joined the strike. On July 30, 1934, as the strike came close to conclusion, Lundeberg was elected Sailor's Union of the Pacific patrolman for the Seattle area.

In April 1935 at a conference of maritime unions in Seattle, it was decided to establish an umbrella union to represent the membership of the International Seaman's Union as well as maritime officers and longshoremen. This umbrella organization was called the Maritime Federation and Lundeberg was named its first president. On October 15, 1938, at an AFL convention in Houston, Texas, Green handed Lundeberg the Seafarer's International Union charter. The new union numbered some 7,000 members on the east and gulf coasts.

Lundeberg served as president of SIU from 1938 until his death from a heart attack in a San Francisco hospital on January 28, 1957.

Memorials

There is a memorial sculpture to Harry Lundeberg at 450 Harrison Street in San Francisco, California, outside the entrance to the Sailors Union of the Pacific Hall. The sculpture consists of a bust of Lundeberg, placed on a marble pedestal in front of the building. On the pedestal is a plaque which reads: "Harry Lundeberg - 1901–1957 - He was indeed a man who crowded into a short life no glittering promise, but unselfish service and general achievement for the course he called his own". In 1967, Paul Hall established the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Piney Point, Maryland, to give young people the chance for a career at sea. Since then, thousands of SIU members have advanced their skills, and thousands of young people from deprived backgrounds have found employment through the school. There is a memorial to Hary Lundeberg outside the Seaman's Hotel at the Seafarers Harry Lundeburg School of Seamanship. Norwegian Cruise Line provides in-house STCW training in this facility for their new hires.

The Lundeberg Derby Monument, on First and Wall streets , is a part of a series of works in Seattle, Washington created to improve First Street in 1987 called the First Avenue Project. The statue was installed by Buster Simpson when the building behind it, the El Gaucho Inn, was still owned and occupied by the Sailor's union. The statue is dedicated to Lundeberg, a key figure in the Sailor's Union Strike of 1886. Lundeberg created the sub/Union cap that was later known as the "Lundeberg Stetson".

Trivia Lundeberg's nickname was "The Lunchbox". Lundeberg was 6 feet inches tall and weighed 190 pounds