Tilford Eli Dudley (1907-1990) was born to
Dr. Gerry Dudley and Mrs. Esther Shoot Dudley in Charleston, Illinois, on April 21, 1907. He served as a member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Administration and became an influential labor lawyer. In 1982, Tilford donated his parents' home, appropriately named the Dudley House and located at 895 Seventh Street in Charleston, Illinois, to the Coles County Historical Society. The contributions Tilford Dudley made to his country and community merit recognition and remembrance of his life which began in Charleston .
Young Tilford attended the Lab School at Eastern Illinois State Teachers College (now Eastern Illinois University ) and received a diploma from Eastern State High School in 1924. Tilford left Charleston to attend Wesleyan University , graduating cum laude in 1928. That same year, he married Martha Ward, and the couple later had three children: Gerric, Donnica, and Martha. Tilford graduated in 1931 from law school at Harvard University , setting the stage for his professional career.
Tilford's performance at Harvard distinguished him from his peers, and after working for three years as a lawyer in Aurora , Illinois , he received an invitation to serve as an attorney in Washington , D.C. He subsequently worked for the Federal Relief Administration, the Suburban Resettlement Program, the National Labor Relations Board, and the War Labor Board. He left his government post in 1944 to work for the United Packinghouse Workers and later the Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. He eventually became the director of the AFL-CIO Speakers Bureau. Tilford made a career of fighting for causes including civil rights and economic justice.
| Installing the Exhibit | |
12-13 October 2007: After weeks of gathering, preparing, scanning, computer formatting, and printing, on the day before exhibit installation, Dan, Aly, and Kristen (the exhibit team) began working at 8:30 a.m. Fourteen-and-a-half hours later, at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning, they finally left the HA lab. Thankfully they received a little bit of help from Dr. Reid, Catherine, Alisha, and Tiffany on Friday evening. Dr. Reid supplied the pizza, Dan supplied "The Office," Kristen brought the caffiene, and Tiffany and Aly brought all of the sweets. It was a long but productive night! We literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for this exhibit. Kristen had previously developed an ulcer, and throughout the course of this very long day, Aly burned her hand, Dr. Reid nearly got her face chopped off by a box, and Dan and Alisha tenderized their hands cutting out all of the exhibit material. |
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| 13 October 2007: Later in the morning, after everyone got a few hours of sleep, it was back to work on Dudley stuff. It was finally time to install the exhibit at the Dudley House! |  |
| 14 October 2007: The exhibit finally opened! There was a great turnout, and Angie and Sarah did a great job with the first of three Tilford Dudley presentations.
Their presentation was entitled “Tilford's Time in Charleston.” Through the eyes of Tilford Dudley, Angie and Sarah discussed what it was like to grow up and go to school in Charleston, Illinois at the turn of the century. Being the son of two prominent members of the community, Tilford had a well-rounded view of Charleston that focused on education and community involvement. They also discussed the circumstances that led him to become a "man of causes" who sometimes opposed the conservative ideals of his childhood community. You can read the script of Sarah and Angie's presentation here or view the Powerpoint presentation here. |
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21 October 2007: Today was the second presentation about Tilford Dudley. There was another large turnout to hear Laurie's and Alisha's presentations. The first lecture of the day, by Laurie, was entitled “ The Dudley Family and Charleston during World War I.” Laurie looked at Charleston 's response to World War I, centering her remarks largely on the Dudley family's experiences. She traced Gerry Dudley's military service as a doctor and also recount memories of the home front from Tilford, his sisters, and other neighborhood children. You can read the script of Laurie's presentation here or view her Powerpoint here. In the second lecture today, entitled "Sickness in War: An International Shared Experience," Alisha told the story of the 1918-1920 influenza epidemic in Charleston and the rest of the world. While World War I was dividing the world, the epidemic provided a globally-shared challenge. She shared background information on the epidemic's history, expressing its international nature, and then shared regional stories from Chicago, Champaign, Charleston, and ultimately the Dudley story. You can read the script of Alisha's presentation here or view her Powerpoint here. |
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28 October 2007: This was the third and final Dudley presentation. Again the Dudley House was completely full, as Tiffany and Catherine gave their presentations. The presentation was entitled "A Career of Causes." Tilford Dudley told his son Gerric, "The most important thing is to figure out what is right and do it—not what is popular, but what is right; and be the best you can at what you do." Tilford's application of this principal in his own life brought him a successful career in various social justice movements. Catherine and Tiffany told the remarkable tale of how Tilford Dudley made doing "what is right" his vocation. Tiffany spoke about his early years as a lawyer in Illinois, his work on the National Labor Relations Board, and other government positions held throughout the New Deal years. She also addressed some of the most important legal cases of which he was a part. Catherine then discussed his work for the AFL-CIO, lobbying for the United Church of Christ, service in the NAACP, and creation of the Dudley foundation, focusing on how these efforts tied into his beliefs in justice for laborers, peace, and civil rights. You can see Catherine's and Tiffany's Powerpoint by clicking here. |
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10 December 2007 (Part Two): The Dudley presentations and exhibit may be in the past, but the project has not left us yet. The Dudley binder chronicles the experience of preparing the exhibit for posterity. It contains transcripts of the presentations, exhibit development materials, and oral history transcriptions, among other goodies! The journey is not over yet. Part three awaits those who dare... |
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Our class was commissioned by the Coles County Historical Society to help design an exhibit and produce a series of programs about Tilford E. Dudley: the most famous man you've never heard of.
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EIU History Department :: HA Home Page Eastern Illinois University Historical Administration Program, 2007-2008 |
Last Updated 8 May 2008
