Tussey, Jean Y., 1918-

Jean Y. Tussey, labor union activist, was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. After graduation from Rutgers University in 1938, she worked as a newspaper reporter, machine shop worker, and as a member of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). She became a member of Local 53 of the International Typographical Union when she moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1951 and joined the staff of the Plain Dealer newspaper as a proofreader. In 1973, she became a full time organizer for Local 53, concentrating on organizing newspaper employees in Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties. Tussey was involved in several women's labor groups, including the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and in general women's groups, including the National Organization for Women, serving as vice president of the Cleveland chapter in 1972. Tussey also edited a collection of writing and speeches by Eugene V. Debs, entitled Eugene V. Debs Speaks (1970), and authored numerous articles on labor history. In 1982, Tussey was a founding member of the Greater Cleveland Labor History Society, serving as president and executive committee member of that organization.