Matthew Woll Papers

Matthew Woll was born in Luxembourg on January 25, 1860. He moved to Chicago with his parents when he was eleven years old.



In 1906, two years after getting his law degree from Lake Forest University College of Law, Mr. Woll was elected President of the Photo Engravers Union. He served in this capacity until 1929; he then became Vice President of the Photo Engravers and held this position until his death on June 1, 1956.



In 1919 he was elected eighth Vice President of the AFL He worked closely with Samuel Gompers and many observers of the labor movement were surprised when he was not elected to succeed Mr. Gompers as president of the AFL. When the AFL and CIO merged in 1955, he became the first Vice President of the AFL-CIO.



One of his contributions to the labor movement was the Union Labor Life Insurance Co. He was among the first to recognize the need for insurance protection for trade union members. He was prominent in organizing the company and became its first president in 1927. His leadership helped the company to develop into a respected organization in the insurance field.

He served on many labor, civic, political, and cultural committees, including the War Labor Board - World War I, National War Labor Board - World War II, Chairman of the AFL International Relations Committee, Editor of the Photo Engravers' journal, National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, N.Y.S. Insurance Advisory Board and Director of Sportsmanship Brotherhood. He also wrote one book entitled Labor, Industry and Government.