Browse Items (11 total)

Frances Caroline Perkins was the United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. A tireless advocate for the country's working class, she helped Franklin Delano Roosevelt bring the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. John Steelman invited…

John Steelman grew at a time when mob violence directed at African Americans frequently erupted in the deep south. The issue deeply concerned Steelman and he made it the subject of his doctoral dissertation at the University of North Carolina, Chapel…

In 1934, the same year Professor Steelman departed for Washington DC, the school yearbook wrote about his role as advisor to the senior class: “he has so loyally filled this position that he has earned a love and admiration equaled by few. His quick…

John R. Steelman came to Montevallo in 1928 where he taught sociology and economics for six years until 1934. During that time he distinguished himself as an educator and gained a reputation for friendliness. Few could have imagined that Steelman…

A letter from John Steelman to Dr. E. H. McCleery concerning wolves. John Steelman corresponded with various people in the early thirties about wolves, McCleery being one of them. Steelman asked if Mcleery still had any wolves and indicated an…

During President Harry S. Truman’s administration, Dr. Steelman served as the nation's first Assistant to the President of the United States. He served in President Truman’s administration from 1946 to 1953. Writer Vivan Meik of The Desert News, a…

In 1944, during World War II, Dr. Steelman served as Director of the Conciliation Service. The file is a pamphlet that his office published for Labor Day 1944. The document reflects how he felt Americans should celebrate Labor Day, not as a festive…

In 1948 President Harry Truman signed an executive order that created an interdepartmental scientific research committee. John R. Steelman's job was to report on the committee's progress and recommend subjects of research. Although America possessed…

Resignation letter to Frances Perkins The Secretary of Labor from J.R. Steelman as director of United States Conciliation Service

The son of a farmer and logger, John Steelman grew up in Arkansas. He paid for college by picking crops and working a variety of jobs. For the duration of his life he felt comfortable in rugged backwoods areas. At Alabama College Steelman taught…

In the wake of Steelman's confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan in Tuscaloosa, Charles Edmndson of The Birmingham Post allowed Steelman to recount what happened and share his perspective. Steelman mocked the Klan's accusations, saying that they applied…