John Owens papers

John Owens was a coal mine worker and labor leader in Ohio. He was born in 1891 in Wales. He and his family came to Marchville, Ohio area when he was only two. As a son of a coal worker, he went to work in the coal mines at the age of ten. At fifteen, he had an accident in one of then coal mines and lost his right leg. From 1915 to 1921 he worked as a check weighman for the miners. He became interested in the politics of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) and eventually became President of District 6. In 1948, he was elected international secretary-treasurer of the UMWA and became a strong right arm of John L. Lewis, President of UMWA. He held this post for over twenty years and participated in many contract negotiations which the union conducted for the miners. He was a strong proponent of miner safety legislation and became widely recognized as one of the country's top labor executives. He held numerous positions until his retirement in 1972.

John Owens was married to the former Bernice Cash and had two sons, who became connected to the UMWA. Ronald Owens became secretary-treasurer of the Ohio UMWA and Willard Owens became an attorney for the UMWA in Washington. John Owens died in 1984 in Cambridge, Ohio.