William D. Ryan

William D. Ryan (1861 – November 17, 1949) was an American labor unionist.

Born in Illinois, Ryan moved with his family to Braidwood, Illinois in 1865. He became a breaker boy at a colliery, and joined the Knights of Labor, and then the United Mine Workers of America. In 1897, he was elected as secretary-treasurer of his local, and became a full-time organizer for the union. In 1908, he was elected as secretary-treasurer of the international union, but he left the union movement in 1909. He then worked as an arbitrator for the Southwestern Interstate Coal Operators' Association, as a safety commissioner for the United States Bureau of Mines, and briefly ran a family coal and grain company.[1]

Ryan retired in 1935, and died in Kansas City, Missouri in 1949.[2]

References

1. The Samuel Gompers Papers. University of Illinois Press. 1986. ISBN 9780252033896.
2. "William D. Ryan, Sr". New York Times. November 18, 1949.

Trade union offices
Preceded by Max S. Hayes Martin Lawlor	American Federation of Labor delegate to the Trades Union Congress 1904 With: Dennis Driscoll	Succeeded by John A. Moffit James Wood
Preceded by William Bauchop Wilson	Secretary-Treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America 1908–1909	Succeeded by Edwin Perry