Isaac Myers, Shipyard Builder

Isaac Myers, Shipyard Builder

1835–1891 · Baltimore. Born free; apprenticed as a ship caulker at sixteen; became a master caulker.

The strike. In 1865 white caulkers and carpenters struck to force Black workers out of Baltimore's shipyards. More than a hundred Black caulkers lost their jobs.

The answer. Myers organised Black workers and investors to buy a shipyard and marine railway. In 1866 the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company opened, employing Black and white workers.

The union. In 1869 he helped found the Colored National Labor Union and became its president.

The trade. Ownership, cooperation and a skill everyone needed.

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