Adlum, Merle Daniel, 1919-1986

Trade-union official and port commissioner, of Seattle, Wash.

From the description of Papers, 1963-1983. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 154691170

From the description of Merle D. Adlum papers, 1963-1983. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 28416795

Born in 1919, Merle Adlum was active in Seattle and Pacific Northwest union and civic affairs from the early sixties to his death in 1986. Among the most important positions held by Adlum were the presidency of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific from 1968-1979 and commissioner on the Seattle Port Commission from 1964-1983. Consequently, he had a major impact on the development of Puget Sound's maritime economy. Adlum worked for the Washington State Ferry System before joining the Inlandboatmen's Union. Among some of the civic organizations Adlum served were the Maritime Advisory Committee, the Interstate 90 Task Force (which was renamed the Committee for Balanced Regional Transportation), the Seattle-King County Development Council, a director of the San Francisco Branch of the Federal Reserve Board, 1979-1983; Seattle Opportunities Industrial Council, 1967-1984; the Washington Committee for Responsible Environmental Policy, 1970-1972; etc.

Adlum was born February 21, 1919 in Friday Harbor, Washington. His father was a purser who sailed the area around Seattle and the San Juan Islands, but he left the family when Merle was barely a year old. His mother, aptly named Oceana, was born at sea just two days after her Norwegian sea captain father anchored off Ballard. Adlum, himself, went to sea with an uncle at the age of twelve. He joined the Navy at seventeen, but was discharged after he broke his back during a storm. Returning to the Puget Sound area, Adlum recovered sufficiently to resume his maritime career working for the Washington state ferry system.

Captain Adlum was involved in numerous other organizations, but since his activites did not result in large quantities of material these records have been placed among the subject series of Adlum's personal papers. Adlum's personal filing system made little distinction between the organization he was representing. For instance, IBU or Port of Seattle stationary is routinely used for other business and material in one sub-group often relates to another. Subject files among his personal series also might relate to more than one function.

From the guide to the Merle Daniel Adlum papers, 1945-1986, (University of Washington Libraries Special Collections)