Trailblazer Archives - Page 2 of 67

Labor Leader: Joe Fay was elected Local 825 leader for life

September 7, 2026 12:12 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:44 pm

Joseph S. Fay (1892-1972) spent decades as one of New Jersey’s most politically influential labor leaders, but a scandal that landed him in prison also changed the outcome of a race for governor of New Jersey. Fay was the business...

Labor Leader: Elizabeth Allen, first woman NJEA president

September 7, 2026 12:11 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:33 pm

Elizabeth A. Allen (1854-1919) was the first woman to serve as president of the New Jersey Education Association and played a pivotal role in advocating for teacher pensions and tenure. She died of the Spanish Flu five years after becoming...

Labor Leader: Laurel Brennan is first woman to serve in top N.J. AFL-CIO post

September 7, 2026 12:10 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:40 pm

Laurel Brennan is the first woman to serve as Secretary-Treasurer of the New Jersey AFL-CIO. New Jersey is one of seven states to elect a woman to a top leadership post in the AFL-CIO. In 2021, Brennan endorsed Elizabeth Shuler...

Labor Leader: Raymond Donovan, U.S. Secretary of Labor under Reagan

September 7, 2026 12:07 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:43 pm

Raymond J. Donovan, a New Jersey construction company executive, served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1985. Donovan was the co-chairman of the New Jersey Reagan campaign in 1980. He and Reagan met in...

Labor Leader: James Mitchell, U.S. Secretary of Labor and N.J. gubernatorial candidate

September 7, 2026 12:06 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:50 pm

James P. Mitchell (1900-1964) was a New Jersey construction company executive who served as Dwight Eisenhower’s Secretary of Labor and then nearly won a race for Governor of New Jersey. Mitchell grew up in Elizabeth and worked in the administration...

Labor Leader: Louis Marciante headed the NJ AFL for 27 years

September 7, 2026 12:06 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:47 pm

Louis P. Marciante (1898-1961) was the president of the New Jersey American Federation of Labor (AFL) from 1934 until his death from a heart attack at age 62 amidst a stressful merger between the AFL and the Congress of Industrial...

Labor Leader: Carl Holderman was a founder of the CIO

September 7, 2026 12:05 amSeptember 6, 2026 8:56 pm

New Jerseyan Carl Holderman (1894-1959) was one of the founders of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1934 and spent more than five years in Gov. Robert Meyner’s cabinet. Among Holderman’s lasting legacies in New Jersey: he was among...