Born in 1919, Merle Adlum was active in Seattle and Pacific Northwest union and civic affairs from the early sixties to his death in 1986. Among the most important positions held by Adlum were the presidency of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific from 1968-1979 and commissioner on the Seattle Port Commission from 1964-1983. Consequently, he had a major impact on the development of Puget Sound's maritime economy. Adlum worked for the Washington State Ferry System before joining the Inlandboatmen's Union. Among some of the civic organizations Adlum served were the Maritime Advisory Committee, the Interstate 90 Task Force (which was renamed the Committee for Balanced Regional Transportation), the Seattle-King County Development Council, a director of the San Francisco Branch of the Federal Reserve Board, 1979-1983; Seattle Opportunities Industrial Council, 1967-1984; the Washington Committee for Responsible Environmental Policy, 1970-1972; etc.
Adlum was born February 21, 1919 in Friday Harbor, Washington. His father was a purser who sailed the area around Seattle and the San Juan Islands, but he left the family when Merle was barely a year old. His mother, aptly named Oceana, was born at sea just two days after her Norwegian sea captain father anchored off Ballard. Adlum, himself, went to sea with an uncle at the age of twelve. He joined the Navy at seventeen, but was discharged after he broke his back during a storm. Returning to the Puget Sound area, Adlum recovered sufficiently to resume his maritime career working for the Washington state ferry system.
Captain Adlum was involved in numerous other organizations, but since his activites did not result in large quantities of material these records have been placed among the subject series of Adlum's personal papers. Adlum's personal filing system made little distinction between the organization he was representing. For instance, IBU or Port of Seattle stationary is routinely used for other business and material in one sub-group often relates to another. Subject files among his personal series also might relate to more than one function.
Organized into 2 accessions.
Correspondence, notes, minutes, and reports, relating to Adlum's union, civic, and political activities, particularly his work as Seattle port commissioner (1965-1977), officer of Inland Boatmen's Union of the Pacific (1967-1978), and his activities with Washington Committee for a Responsible Environmental Policy, Shoreline Committee for Initiative 43B (1972), Alternatives for Washington, and Dixy Lee Ray for Governor Committee (1976). Includes material relating to Adlum's other activities with AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Dept., Central Puget Sound Economic Development District, Committee for Balanced Regional Transportation, Economic Development Council of Puget Sound, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (Seattle Branch), Pacific Science Center Foundation, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seattle Ferry Terminal Design Study, Seattle-King County Economic Development Council, Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center, Washington Council on International Trade, Washington Environmental Trade Association, and Washington State Canal Commission. Persons represented include Robert W. Bucklin, Henry M. Jackson, Gene Kaspar, and J. Eldon Opheim.
Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.
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Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Papers cover Adlum's civic, union and personal activities
The papers in this accession have been arranged in subgroups reflecting Adlum's most important union and civic activities. After going to work for the Ferry Service, Adlum joined the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific and in 1954 he went to work as special assistant to John M. Fox, president of the union. From then until 1966 he held this job as well as that of Assistant Business Agent of Local #6 of the Masters, Mates and Pilots which bargained jointly with the I.B.U. From 1966 to 1968 he served as Secretary of the I.B.U.'s Puget Sound Division and in 1968, following Fox's retirement, Adlum was elected president of the entire union. He held that position until 1979. His union activities led to the position of vice president of the Seafarers International Union of North America, which he held concurrently with his I.B.U. presidency. He was also the president of the Puget Sound Division of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s Maritime Trades Department from 1968 until 1983 and served as a member of the board of trustees of the Northwest Marine Retirement Trust Fund from 1968-1979.
Even after Adlum no longer held union office he continued to have a strong interest in the activities of organized labor. Thus a subject series called "Union Materials" has been created within Adlum's personal papers for union pursuits in the later years of his life.
Other subgroups resulted from Adlum's civic activities. In 1964 Adlum was appointed to the Seattle Port Commission. He was reelected in 1967 and continued in that position until 1983, when he failed to be retained for a fifth time.
Between the mid-sixties and the mid-seventies Adlum acted as chairman of the Maritime Advisory Committee for four different Seattle mayors and was also appointed to the Mayor's Convention Center Task Force.
He was a member of a number of committees created by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, including the Alaska Resources Development Committee and the Interstate 90 Task Force. The I-90 Task Force was expanded in 1979 t o include more broad based participation and re-named the Committee for Balanced Regional Transportation with Adlum as president.
Similarly, Adlum served on the Board of Trustees of the Seattle-King County Development Council, later renamed the Central Puget Sound Economic Development Council.
On a state level Adlum was a commissioner on the Washington State Canal Commission from 1967-75 and on a regional level he served as a Director of the San Francisco Branch of the Federal Reserve Board from 1979-83.
Among the many private organizations with which he was affiliated, Adlum was most prominent in the Seattle Opportunities Industrial Council (1967-84), Washington Committee for Responsible Environmental Policy (1970-72), Alternatives for Washington (1974-75) , the Steamer
Also included in the subgroups are the papers relating to the Transportation Institute(1974-84) where Adlum was employed as a consultant.
The personal papers includes election materials relating both to Adlum's Port of Seattle campaigns as well as political campaigns of others. After his Port reelection records, the most extensive of the election series relates to the 1976 and 1980 gubernatorial campaigns of Dixie Lee Ray. The political material and Adlum's subject series comprise most of the personal papers, although there is some general correspondence, and significant numbers of newspaper clippings, invitations, photographs and ephemera.
Captain Adlum was involved in numerous other organizations, but since his activites did not result in large quantities of material these records have been placed among the subject series of Adlum's personal papers. Adlum's personal filing system made little distinction between the organizations he was representing. For instance, I.B.U. or Port of Seattle stationary is routinely used for other business and material in one sub-group often relates to another. Subject files among his personal series also might relate to more than one function.
Records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.
Photographs are of Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific gatherings, and partially identified cassette tapes are of Inlandboatmen's Union conventions as well as Adlum's Seattle Port Commission radio ads.
Records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.