Edwin C. Brown Labor Union Collection (Mss. Gr. 230)

Biographical note

Edwin C. Brown was a notable Rhode Island labor activist who remained active in the labor world until his death at the age of 100 in 2010. Brown began working at the age of 16 for a jewelry manufacturer, and eventually became a jewelry toolmaker. In 1935, while working as a toolmaker, he joined the International Association of Machinists and was elected president of the local four years later. In 1940, he was appointed to the Committee Studying Employment Problems of the Negro and later became New England regional director of the AFL League for Human Rights. After serving in World War II, he joined the U.S. Department of Labor as an investigator. He quit the government in 1951 to become Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island branch of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). As the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL, Brown played a major role in merging of the AFL and CIO in 1958. During the 1950’s, Brown worked to gather information about the history of Rhode Island’s labor unions. He published this piece in 1976, titled "Working in Early Rhode Island." Brown was also the founder of the Rhode Island Group Health Association (RIGHA). He became board chairman in 1971. His papers include surveys of various RI labor unions compiled in order to write "Working in Rhode Island," information regarding the RIGHA, as well as personal labor-related files.