Edward Todd, the first Afro-American to be elected to the TWUA Executive Council, was born in rural Mississippi in 1909. His family moved to Chicago in 1920; and, because of the death of his father two years later, Todd went to work after finishing grammar school. Todd had no union background and did not become involved in unionism until 1939 when a co-worker asked him to help get signatures on TWOC cards at the United Felt shop in Chicago. When Local 335 was formed at United Felt, Todd was elected president and spent the rest of his career organizing workers into TWUA. For many years his organizing was done on his own time. Eventually he was hired as a business agent for the Chicago Joint Board and later became manager of this predominantly white joint board. In 1964 he was elected to the TWUA Executive Council and was named Midwest Regional Director the following year. Throughout his career with TWUA, Todd maintained active membership in several civil rights organizations and, after his retirement from TWUA in 1965, continued this civil rights activity.
