scaloia's blog

The staff of the Reuther Library is saddened by the passing of long-time AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer and Coalition of Black Trade Unionists co-founder, William “Bill” Lucy. He passed away September 24, 2024 at the age of 90.

Lucy grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and Richmond, California. He worked for Contra Costa County, CA, where he joined with his coworkers to form an AFSCME local in 1956. He later became the local’s president. AFSCME International president Jerry Wurf recognized Lucy as a rising star and invited him to work at AFSCME headquarters in 1966. In 1972, Lucy became AFSCME’s Secretary-Treasurer, the International’s second in command spot. He held that office for 38 years before retiring.  read more »

The Reuther Library is saddened by the news that Gerald McEntee, former president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has passed away at the age of 87.  read more »

“Several years ago Marvin Fleming, at that time a WBR-3 Trash Collector in the Division of Sanitation, became the instrument through which one of the most deliberate and pernicious systems of racial discrimination in the District government was smashed.”  read more »

Learn more about the information offered in our December Historical Calendar, featured in person during the 2019 Noel Night:

December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Alabama.
December,  read more »