Holt Edgar Ross Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-43

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Lawyer and representative for labor unions, of Mississippi and New Orleans. Correspondence, articles, poems and speeches by Ross (1897-1968), newspaper clippings, photos, and other papers, chiefly relating to Ross' efforts in behalf of the International Longshoremen's Association, International Hod Carriers', Building, and Common Laborers' Union, American Federation of Labor, and Congress of Industrial Organizations, together with material on Ross' trip to the Trade Union Congress, Blackpool, Britain, 1944, and a trip to Puerto Rico to review labor problems. Correspondents include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alfred A. Force, Robert S. Green, William Green, Joseph V. Moreschi, Vincent Moreale, Frank Morrison, and Harry S. Truman. In part, transcripts (typewritten).

Dates

1916 - 1966

Biographical Note

Holt Edgar Ross, son of Louis E. and Daisy Edna White Ross, was born in 1897 in Stonewall, MS, and died in 1968 in Laurel, MS. He married Lucy Davis Ross and together they had Ellis and Louis Edgar Ross.

Ross received his JD from Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tenn.) in 1924 and was admitted to Mississippi Bar Association in the same year. He practiced law until 1933 when he went to work full time in the labor movement. He was a representative to the American Federation of Labor (AFL); Southern Representative of International Hod Carriers, Building and Common Laborers' Union; 2nd President of the State (Mississippi) Federation of Labor. Served until retirement as counselor and conciliator for the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

Sources: A History of Labor Unions in Mississippi by Donald Crumpton Mosley, 1965; The Laborers' Story, by Arch A. Mercey, 1954.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Separated Materials

One copy of Holt Ross’ works Radio Speech (1942), Labor’s Responsibility in the World Crisis (undated) and Technocracy! What Does It Mean? (undated) have been removed for cataloging; additional duplicates were added to appropriate vertical files in Mississippiana in June 2021.

Processing Note

Initially processed by Manuscripts staff in 1968; Finding aid prepared remotely by Jennifer McGillan, May 2020 and updated June 2021 and November 2023

This finding aid is currently in progress. Please contact sp_coll@library.msstate.edu for more information.