Fried, Emanuel, 1913-2011.

Emanuel "Manny" Fried was born March 1, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Buffalo, New York. Fried was an important, even pivotal, figure in the labor history of Western New York. From 1941 to 1956, excepting two and a half years for military service during World War II, he was Organizer and International Representative for District 3, United Electrical Workers. As organizer he was involved in union activities and organizing at such well known Western New York industries as Westinghouse (Attica), Markel Electric (Buffalo), Richardson Boat Company, Durez, Remington-Rand, Blaw-Knox, and Blackstone Electric. His leadership of, or involvement in, bargaining, lockouts, and strikes at many of these plants brought considerable attention to his union activities and political interests. Fried, who acknowledged that for much of his life he was a member of the Communist Party, was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee on two occasions, in 1954 (in Albany) and in 1962 (in Buffalo). His membership in and employment by the United Electrical Workers--a union which at one time had 275,000 members, but was expelled from the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) because of its alleged communist domination in 1949--brought further notoriety to Fried. Following his years as a union organizer Fried worked as an insurance salesman in Canada, due to his being blacklisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, before earning a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English from SUNY Buffalo in the 1970s. Fried enjoyed a successful career as a playwright and teacher of creative writing at Buffalo State College, but never ceased advocating for unions. Manny Fried died at the age of 94 in 2011.

From the description of Manny Fried labor union papers, 1934-1967, 1946-1956. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 741365040