2-378-226 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

John L Lewis, American trade unionist, 1939. John Llewellyn Lewis (1880-1969), was an American leader of organised labour who served as President of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. He was the leading force behind the establishment in 1935 of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the federation of unions representing millions of American industrial workers.