page_title: Reuben G. Soderstrom
section_title: Family
hierarchical_section_title: Reuben G. Soderstrom / Family
caption_attribution_description: English: Reuben Soderstrom with is grandson Carl Jr.
context_page_description: Reuben George Soderstrom was an American leader of organized labor who served as President of the Illinois State Federation of Labor and Illinois AFL-CIO from 1930 to 1970. A key figure in Chicago and Illinois politics, he also played a pivotal role in American labor history by helping to define national labor policy after the fornation of the AFL–CIO in 1955. Soderstrom advised and was courted by multiple U.S. presidents seeking his endorsement and the votes of the over 1.3 million laborers he represented. The longest-serving state federation chief in American labor history, he passed seminal labor legislation and grew his organization's membership five-fold and transforming it into one of the most powerful labor bodies in the United States.
context_section_description: Soderstrom was the primary provider for his family since childhood and continued to care for his mother until her passing in 1959. He was close to his siblings, especially his sister Olga and brothers Paul and Lafe, whose own career in labor politics was cut short when he was killed by a drunk driver in Chicago in 1940. He married Jeanne Shaw in 1912, and together, they had two children: Carl and Rose Jeanne. Carl followed in his father's footsteps by winning the Illinois House seat his father had held in 1950. His daughter, Jeanne, was a teacher and counselor at Streator High School. In 1941, Carl Soderstrom married Streator native Virginia Merriner. The pair had five children: Carl Jr., Virginia Jeanne, Robert, Jane, and William Reuben.
  He was committed to the city of Streator and chose to commute to his offices in Chicago and Springfield, rather than leave his adopted hometown. On September 2, 2012, the city honored him with the dedication of the Reuben G. Soderstrom Statue and Memorial Plaza.
caption: Reuben Soderstrom with his grandson, Carl Soderstrom Jr.
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