Powers Hapgood

Powers Hapgood (1899–1949) was an American trade union organizer and Socialist Party leader known for his involvement with the United Mine Workers in the 1920s.

Biography

Early years Powers Hapgood was born on December 28, 1899, the son of William Powers Hapgood, a Progressive canning factory owner in Indianapolis, and his wife, the former Eleanor Page. Hapgood graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1917 and enrolled in Harvard University, from which he earned his bachelor's degree in 1921. Hapgood was instrumental in organizing non-union coal mines in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, during the Somerset Coal Strike of 1922–23, especially mines at Jerome, Boswell and Gray. Hapgood later aided John Brophy in his challenge to John L. Lewis for the leadership of the UMWA, a failed attempt which ultimately led to the ouster of both Hapgood and Brophy from the Union.

Following his ouster, Hapgood subsequently went abroad and worked himself as a miner in South Wales, France, Germany, and Soviet Russia.

German-American author (and fellow Indiana native) Kurt Vonnegut pays homage to Hapgood in his novel Jailbird.

Powers Hapgood's papers are housed at the Lilly Library at the Indiana University in Bloomington.

Footnotes

Works

Books and pamphlets

In Non-Union Mines: The Diary of a Coal Digger in Central Pennsylvania, August–September, 1921. New York: Bureau of Industrial Research, 1922. Radio Address on "A Crisis with Coal Miners." Taylorville, IL: Daily Courier Co., 1930. Private Ownership of Coal Mines Brings Chaos, Tyranny and Hunger. Chicago: Socialist Party of America, n.d. . Slavery in the Coal Fields: What Shall We Do About It? Chicago: Socialist Party of America, n.d. [c. 1932]. The Columbia Conserve Company, Indianapolis, Indiana: An Experiment in Workers' Management and Ownership. Indianapolis: Columbia Conserve Co., 1934. Report and Recommendations of Industry Committee Number 6 for the Establishment of Minimum Wage Rates in the Shoe Manufacturing and Allied Industries. Washington, DC: The Committee, 1939.

Articles

"Workmen's Compensation — Discussion." Contributor. The American Economic Review, vol. 12, no. 1 (March 1922), pp. 153–167. "Hapgood Makes Hot Reply to John L. Lewis," The Daily Worker, vol. 3, no. 245 (October 29, 1926), pp. 1, 5.