•Completed eighth grade when 16.
Street kid.
•Went to San Francisco 1933–1937. Worked odd jobs.
•Returned to Chicago in 1937. First unemployed, then worked as hustler and ticket-scalper.
•Got involved with Local 20467 of Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers Union. Union organizer and negotiator for three
years.
•Odd jobs for a few more years.