Sewell Avery

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Sewell Avery (1874-1955) was an American businessman.

Born in a wealthy family of lumber barons in Michigan, Avery was a financier of the American Liberty League and a National Advisor for one of its front organizations, the Crusaders. Avery also gave generously to the Church League of America (CLA). He was a favorite of the anti-New Deal movement and was a staunch opponent to the National War Labor Board.[1][2] Richard Sanders wrote

Avery defied Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal by refusing to pay $30,000, as prescribed by the National Recovery Act. Despite this defiance, his vice president at Montgomery Ward (Frank Folsom) was appointed to FDR’s National Defense Advisory Commission (1940-1941). During World War II, Avery would not comply with government orders to allow unionization efforts. As a result, National Guardsmen carried him from his office in 1944. “To hell with the government,” he blurted out at the Attorney General, “You... New Dealer!”[1]

As a businessman, Avery was president of Montgomery Ward, director of J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Steel and president of U.S. Gypsum.[3] In 1955, Sewell retired with a fortune of $327 million.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Richard Sanders (March 2004). "Facing the Corporate Roots of American Fascism: Sewell Avery (1874-1955)". Press for Conversion! (53). 
  2. ^ "The Avery Problem" (June 19, 1944). Time Magazine. 
  3. ^ John Steele Gordon (May 1994). "The Perils of Success". American Heritage Magazine 45 (3).