Talk:William Z. Foster

Much ado about "Z"
My sources say that he never called himself "Zebulon."
 * Well, could you name your sources? I didn't add the name, but there are some internet sources that say that. Everyking 08:30, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I sound like a Magic Eight Ball. Barrett's book says that Foster never used it and denied the stories that others circulated that he had adopted Zebulon to sound as if he were descended from old New England stock, rather than the son of Irish immigrants. Thanks, by the way, for correcting all my typos; I plead fatigue, even though it is no defense. --Italo Svevo 04:03, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The Z. just stands for Z.
Johanningsmeier bio, pp. 11-12: "During this period, according to various records, Elizabeth gave birth to nine children, including William E. Foster (the "Z" was added much later)."

I recall having read somewhere that the initial was used to lend "pizazz" to a bland name -- tons of Williams, tons of Fosters, the Z. made the boring name pop. Not sure where I read that, but I believe that's the origin -- an arbitrary initial that would look good on a pamphlet. Not sure where the myth of "Zebulon" came from, but I'm knocking it out of the bio, because it's wrong.

Tim Davenport

Early American Marxism website

Carrite (talk) 07:25, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Free Speech Fight
The Free Speech Fight to which you refer actual took place in Spokane, Washington. November of 1909 to be exact. While the IWW carried out many such fights this would be the one that Foster was involved in. As a matter of fact he was covering the the event for the Workingmen's Paper. It was after being arrested alongside of the IWW members that he baecame a member. This is the same event which is so infamous for the arrest of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn(actually one of many arrests). Zealot420

Zebulon
He is listed as William Zebulon Foster in the following publications:
 * American Authors and Books. 1640 to the present day. Third revised edition. By W.J. Burke and Will D. Howe. Revised by Irving Weiss and Anne Weiss. New York: Crown Publishers, 1972. (AmAu&B)
 * American Reformers. Edited by Alden Whitman. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1985. (AmRef) Biography contains portrait.
 * American Social Leaders. By William McGuire and Leslie Wheeler. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1993. (AmSocL)
 * Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. Edited by Gary M. Fink. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984. Biographies begin on page 83. (BiDAmL)
 * Biographical Dictionary of American Labor Leaders. Edited by Gary M. Fink. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1974. (BiDAmLL)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 1: January, 1946-July, 1949. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1949. (BioIn 1)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 3: September, 1952-August, 1955. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1956. (BioIn 3)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 4: September, 1955-August, 1958. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1960. (BioIn 4)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 6: September, 1961-August, 1964. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1965. (BioIn 6)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 12: September, 1979-August, 1982. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1983. (BioIn 12)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 13: September, 1982-August, 1984. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1984. (BioIn 13)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 15: September, 1986-August, 1988. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1988. (BioIn 15)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 16: September, 1988-August, 1990. New * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 19: September, 1993-August, 1994. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1994. (BioIn 19)
 * Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 20: September, 1994-August, 1995. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1995. (BioIn 20)
 * The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography. Edited by John S. Bowman. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995. (CamDcAB)
 * The Citizen Action Encyclopedia. Groups and movements that have changed America. By Richard S. Halsey. Westport, CT: Oryx Press, 2002. (CitAE)
 * Dictionary of Twentieth-Century History, 1914-1990. By Peter Teed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1992. (DcTwHis)
 * Encyclopedia of World Biography. Second edition. Seventeen volumes. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. First edition published as The McGraw- Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography with six supplement volumes published as Encyclopedia of World Biography: 20th Century * The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1973. Supplemental volumes published as Encyclopedia of World Biography: 20th Century Supplement. (McGEWB)
 * The Penguin International Dictionary of Contemporary Biography from 1900 to the Present. Second edition. By Edward Vernoff and Rima Shore. New York: Viking Penguin, 2001. First edition published by New American Library as The International Dictionary of 20th Century Biography. (PenIntDc)
 * Webster's American Biographies. 1974 edition. Edited by Charles Van Doren. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1974. (WebAB 1974)
 * Webster's American Biographies. 1979 edition. Edited by Charles Van Doren. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1979. (WebAB 1979)
 * Who Was Who in America. A component volume of Who's Who in American History. Volume 4, 1961-1968. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1968. (WhAm 4)
 * The World Almanac Biographical Dictionary. By the editors of The World Almanac. New York: World Almanac Publications, 1990. (WorAlBi)
 * The World Almanac Book of Who. Edited by Hana Umlauf Lane. New York: World Almanac Publications, 1980. Use the 'Name Index,' which begins on page 326, to locate biographies. (WorAl)

First Amazon Labor Union in USA
In 2022, the lead organizers of the first successful Amazon Labor Union (ALU) organization-drive actively read and discussed William Z Foster's publications. See here: "ALU member Justine Medina credited Communist organizer William Z. Foster’s Organizing Methods in the Steel Industry for the group’s organizational acumen and bottom-up organizing approach. She and others on the organizing committee read and discussed it, giving it out to workers to read." From: Amazon Workers in Staten Island Clinch a Historic Victory April 01, 2022 by Luis Feliz Leon. Link: https://www.labornotes.org/2022/04/amazon-workers-staten-island-clinch-historic-victory — Preceding unsigned comment added by Acalbrecht (talk • contribs) 00:34, 2 April 2022 (UTC)