1869-1928
Labor Leader

Out of the Mines.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, William Haywood experienced a difficult early life, losing his father at the age of three, obtaining minimal formal education, and working for wages as an adolescent. At fifteen he became a miner and in 1896 joined the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), the era's preeminent radical labor union, in Silver City, Idaho. He served as secretary and president of his local chapter and in 1900 was promoted to the union's general executive board. In 1901 he moved to Denver where he served as editor of the WFM's journal and as secretary-treasurer. Within the radical milieu of the Denver headquarters, Haywood received an education in class struggle and socialism.

IWW Leader.

Between 1903 and 1905 Haywood participated in one of the most violent incidents in American labor history. The WFM waged a bitter conflict with...