William B. Wilson was one of the founders of the United Mine Workers of America, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first U.S. Secretary of Labor. He was also the step-grandfather of my maternal grandfather, Glenn Andrews, Sr.

While a history graduate student at Penn State, I had the opportunity to research his life and write an essay about his role in Woodrow Wilson Administration during the First World War. These pages are an attempt to make what I learned available to the family and other interested persons.