Born in Tennessee in 1909, James Suffridge completed high school and engaged in a variety of sales jobs until he finally became a grocery store manager in Oakland, California. In 1934, he and several other store managers in the Oakland area organized Local 870 of the Retail Clerks International Association, (RCIA). After about a year of spare-time organizing, Suffridge was elected Secretary-Treasurer of Local 870, a paid position. In 1944, he was elected President of the RCIA but because of the ill health of the union's chief executive officer, Secretary-Treasurer C.C. Coulter, Suffridge in fact served as chief executive officer of the union from the day he took office. When Coulter retired in 1947, Suffridge became Secretary-Treasurer; when president was made the top office in 1955, Suffridge assumed that position. He retired to the position of President Emeritus in 1968. During the 24 years of Suffridge's leadership, the RCIA showed a net increase in membership every year. The union grew in that period from a relatively weak and inconsequential organization, with well over half of its members located in California, to one of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO. Suffridge grew also, eventually becoming a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council and a confidant of several United States Presidents.
