Whiting Williams (March 11, 1878 – April 14, 1975) was co-founder of the Welfare Federation of Cleveland, a predecessor to the Community Chest and United Way charitable organizations, as well as an author of popular books and articles about labor relations during the early 20th century. He was one of a number of social investigators who gathered information by going "undercover" to live as a worker.
Biography
Overview
Whiting Williams was born Charles Whiting Williams on March 11,1878 in Shelby, Ohio to Benjamin J. Williams and Ida Whiting. He is best known as the management consultant who went undercover to study various working conditions in the early twentieth century. He disguised himself as a laborer in coal mines, railroad shops, shipyards, and oil refineries in the United States, Europe, and Central and South America. At the commencement of his research in 1920, he wrote a book, "What's on the Workers Mind, Put On Coveralls To Find Out", followed by several other writings which documented the findings of his research.
Education
In 1899, Whiting Williams graduated from Oberlin College after which he continued his education at the University of Berlin for a year (1899-1900), and then the University of Chicago (1900–01). Thereafter, he managed the Bureau of University Travel (1901–04) and became the Assistant to the President at Oberlin College (1904–12). In the meantime, he earned a master's degree in 1909.
Early career (1904-1918) Williams career started when he took a position as manager of the University Travel Bureau. He held this job until 1904, when he wrote a letter to the President of Oberlin College, Henry C. King, during his trip to Europe. In this, he suggested that a college president needed a full-time assistant to look after the less academic problems facing a school. In November of that same year Williams received a reply to his letter in which he was appointed assistant to the President. He held this position until 1912, and within this time period he met and married his first wife, Caroline Harter.
In 1912, Williams moved to Cleveland, Ohio to co-found the Cleveland Federation for Charity and Philanthropy. This organization was based on the premise that the competition of charitable organizations with each other for contributions was detrimental to their best interests. In response to this, the Cleveland Federation proposed that a single organization conduct a single massive fund drive and disburse the contributions among the various charitable groups in the city. The Federation was groundbreaking in this attempt, and provided the foundation for what are known as Community Chest, United Fund, and United Way. In 1917, the organization's name changed to the Welfare Federation of Cleveland and Williams' title became executive secretary within the Federation. He pioneered more than 2,400 United Appeals.
With a growing family, in 1916 Williams began selling group life insurance as a special representative for the Equitable Life Assurance Society with the belief that this would be the wave of the future and that that this would be a service to workers that could not afford individual insurance policies. Amidst the transitions he underwent in terms of his career, Williams grew concerned that his name was too popular, fearing that people might not be able to distinguish him among so many others. Therefore, in June 1917 he had his name legally changed from Charles Williams to Whiting Williams.
In 1918, Williams moved to industrial world, to become Vice President and Personnel Director of Cleveland Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co.
Later career (1918-1960) Williams took a leave of absence in 1920 to study working conditions and workers' attitudes firsthand, first in the United States, and later in various countries. Speaking multiple languages, French, German, Spanish, and Italian, enabled Williams to work as laborer in coal mines, railroad shops, shipyards, and oil refineries in the U.S., Europe, and Central and South America. Based on his research, he gave lectures and wrote several books such as; What's on the Worker's Mind (1920), Full Up and Fed Up (1921), Horny Hands and Hampered Elbows (1922), and Mainsprings of Men (1925).
