Arthur Winston: Employee of the 20th Century
He worked for the LA Metro for 72 years.
Issue #671 Today In Black History, Thursday, July 18, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
Arthur Winston was born on March 23, 1906. He was an African American custodian and a Los Angeles Metro employee for 72 years.
Born and raised in Oklahoma before it became a state, Winston began picking cotton when he was 10. But several harvests were lost to droughts and storms, forcing the family to head west when he was 12 years old. He graduated from LA's Jefferson High School in 1922. Winston’s hourly salary was 41 cents an hour when he began work for the Pacific Electric Railway Co. in 1924.
One year later he married Frances Smith. The couple had four children and five grandchildren. He stayed with the same company despite the name changes, starting from the Los Angeles Railway that became Los Angeles Transit Lines in 1945, to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority created in 1958; the Southern California Rapid Transit District created in 1964, and the company has been known since 1993 as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or simply the "Metro.”
He attributed his work ethic to his upbringing, declaring that his father taught him the value of hard work at an early age. Upon his retirement on his 100th birthday, he stated that he was planning to visit his 98-year-old brother in Tennessee and had the intention of remaining active in various endeavors.
He holds the record as the most reliable worker that the United States Department of Labor has ever chronicled. He worked for 72 years without ever being late, and having only taken off a single day (in 1988 for the funeral of his wife Frances).
In 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded him with an "Employee of the Century" citation for his work ethic and dedication.
The Arthur Winston Bus Yard (Division 5 in South Bay) was named in his honor in Los Angeles.
Arthur Winston died at age 100 of heart failure in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles on April 13, 2006, less than one month after his retirement.
Today In Black History
In 1863, Sgt. William H. Carney became the first Black soldier to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery.
In 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment composed of free Blacks from the North, and celebrated in the movie “Glory,” made its famous charge on Fort Wagner in the Charleston, South Carolina harbor.
In 1899, Black inventor L.C. Bailey received a patent for a folding bed for sleeping cars on trains.
In 1905, Black inventor Granville T. Woods patented the second of two improvements for railroad brakes.
In 1995, Barack Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father,” was published. The audio version of the book earned him the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
In 2013, the City of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, becoming the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history at $18.5 billion. The bankruptcy was ordered by a “City Manager” appointed by Republican governor Rick Snyder. The City emerged from bankruptcy in December 2014, but not before thousands of City workers, including police officers and firefighters lost their pensions and healthcare benefits.
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