Mariano S. Bishop (November 14, 1906 – January 2, 1953) was a labor organizer and union leader who served in turn as principal Organizer, Director, and Executive Vice President of the

Textile Workers Union of America The Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) was an industrial union of textile workers established through the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1939 and merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to become the Amalgamated Clo ...

Biography

Bishop (his last name being an

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...

version of Bispo) was born November 14, 1906, on the island of São Miguel in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and grew up in the south end of

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, where his family brought him as a young child. In his twenties he starred with

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality ('' concelho'') and economic capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67, ...

, an amateur soccer club based in Fall River, which drew players from the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

immigrant community, among the most celebrated amateur soccer clubs in United States history. The movement that led to the forming of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, proposed in 1932, independent of the American Federation of Labor, attracted, among others, Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, and Portuguese immigrant workers from all over industrial New England. Bishop was one of these. In 1934 he led the massive strike of textile workers in Fall River, a city among the largest producers of cotton goods in the world. This was part of the largest strike in American history, an action by 400,000 textile workers in all areas of the country, which ended unsuccessfully and destroyed the United Textile Workers, the predecessor of the Textile Workers Union of America. Bishop's athletic abilities proved ever useful when facing down management enforcers. The Textile Workers' Union of America was founded in 1939 in Philadelphia. Emil Rieve became its first President and Mariano Bishop was its principal Organizer. The TWUA succeeded from the Textile Workers' Organizing Committee established by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the CIO in 1937. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the TWUA had organized most textile workers and others in New England with 70,000 Southerners as well, improving wages and conditions greatly. Bishop became one of the directors of the TWUA in 1943 and became international executive vice president in 1952. Bishop died suddenly at 46 on January 2, 1953, suffering a heart attack on the way to a union meeting in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. His funeral in Fall River was said at the time to have been the largest in city history. Known in his day in his hometown as "The Most Important American of Portuguese Descent," Bishop remains an important figure of

Portuguese-American Portuguese Americans ( pt, português-americanos), also known as Luso-Americans (''luso-americanos''), are citizens and residents of the United States who are connected to the country of Portugal by birth, ancestry, or citizenship. Americans and ...

heritage. Portuguese American Historical & Research Foundation, Inc
Mariano S. Bishop Boulevard in Fall River is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Mariano S. 1906 births 1953 deaths People from São Miguel Island American people of Azorean descent Portuguese emigrants to the United States Congress of Industrial Organizations people People from Fall River, Massachusetts Ponta Delgada S.C. players Soccer players from Massachusetts Men's association football players not categorized by position Trade unionists from Massachusetts American men's soccer players Textile Workers Union of America people