Fred W. Suitor

Fred W. Suitor (1879-May 10, 1934) was an American labor leader and politician from Vermont. Suitor was a leader in the Quarry Workers' International Union of North America. Elected Secretary-Treasurer of the QWIUNA in 1911, he maintained that position until 1930. In 1915, he was president of the Vermont Federation of Labor.[1] He was the second socialist mayor of Barre, Vermont after Robert Gordon

Fred W. Suitor
Born1879 (1879)
Leeds, Quebec
DiedMay 10, 1934(1934-05-10) (aged 55)
OccupationLabor leader and politician
Years active1908–1934
Mayor of Barre, Vermont
In office
1929–1931

Labor

As a child, he worked part-time in a Quebec copper mill. He eventually became a blacksmith and worked in Vermont's large granite industry. In 1908, at the age of 29, Suitor became a business agent for the Quarry Workers union. In 1911, he was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the union, a position he continued in until 1930. He held other positions of influence in the union until his death in 1934.

Politics

In politics, Suitor was a member of the Socialist Party of America, which distinguished him from some other high-ranking labor leaders who were often opposed to socialism. He was twice a candidate of the Socialist Party of Vermont for Governor (1912 and 1932).[2] He was also involved in municipal politics in Barre and was elected as the city's mayor from 1929 to 1931.

While mayor, Suitor was known as a "sidewalk socialist", a play on the sewer socialism that emphasized immediate reforms over revolutionary changes common among elected socialists in the United States. Notable among his accomplishments as mayor was the creation of a public park, now known as Rotary Park. A major challenge Suitor confronted as mayor was the onset of the Great Depression. In response to the economic downturn, he proposed and voters approved a $50,000 bond to be used to improve infrastructure and keep local men working.[3]

Personal

Suitor was born in 1879 in the Anglophone village of Leeds, Quebec. In grade school, he worked part-time in a copper mill. In 1892, he and his family settled in Barre, Vermont. Suitor died following a series of heart attacks in the spring of 1934 at the age of 55. Historian Robert E. Weir notes that the former quarry worker "died at a relatively young age, though an advanced one by the standards of granite workers."[4]

References
  1. Flint, Winston Allen, The Progressive Movement in Vermont, p. 84
  2. Governor: 1789-2014 Office of the Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration
  3. Weir, Robert E., Solid Men in the Granite City: Municipal Socialism in Barre, Vermont, 1916-1931. Vermont History Vol. 83, No. 1 (Winter/Spring 2015): 43–81.
  4. Weir, p. 66
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