Harry Bridges was a legend among West Coast labor leaders—fiercely loved and fiercely hated. At his death on March 30, 1990, he was widely regarded as one of the foremost labor leaders of the 20th century.
Bridges became a coast-wide leader of longshoremen in 1934, a year that saw a long and ultimately successful West Coast strike. He helped found the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) in 1937 as a West Coast union separate from that of East Coast longshoremen. Elected the first ILWU president in 1937, he was re-elected during four decades, retiring in 1977.
Now ILWU locals and rank-and-file members are helping to establish the Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies at the University of Washington—the first endowed chair in the country to honor a labor leader.
President William P. Gerberding accepted a symbolic “check” representing more than $415,000 in cash and pledges for the Bridges Chair at the international convention of the ILWU, held in Seattle June 5.
“Our goal is to raise $1 million,” says Bob Duggan, ’54, ’61, a labor lawyer who is coordinating the fund-raising effort. “Almost 500 people have contributed, and over 100 retired longshoremen, or their widows, have given $1,000 or more. Some give to say ‘thanks’ to Harry. Some want to make sure that future generations will learn and understand the role of labor in the struggle for justice.” Duggan, who worked his way through the UW—both undergraduate and law school—as a longshoreman, is past president of the UW Alumni Association.
The Bridges Chair will reside in the College of Arts and Sciences, which plans to make it the heart of a new Center for Labor Studies. The center will emphasize the broad sweep of labor’s role in national and international history, politics, the economy, arts and music.
While most endowed chairs at the University are given by a single individual, the Bridges Chair will appropriately reflect the collective effort that characterized Bridges’ life in being funded by a large number of donors. “We think Harry would be pleased. He absolutely believed that the participation of many people would accomplish more than any individual could on his own,” says Duggan.
The Bridges Chair would be the forty-third endowed faculty position (chairs and professorships) added to the University’s endowment during the Campaign for Washington. Increasing the University’s endowment for faculty and for graduate students are the campaign’s highest priorities.
The campaign topped $229 million in gifts and pledges as of June 30, including $103.8 million in new endowment, $31.6 million for facilities and equipment, and $93.8 million for support of current programs. It has reached 92 percent of its $250 million goal.
In related news, the UW ranked 15th in private support among all U.S. colleges and universities for 1989-90, according to figures released by the Council for Aid to Education. It ranked fifth among public institutions, behind Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cal-Berkeley and UCLA.
“We are delighted with the growth in private support,” says Marilyn Dunn, vice president for development. “It is a testimony to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers working on behalf of the Campaign for Washington.”