Bridges, Harry (1901–1990)

Jeremy Tranmer

ALFRED RENTON BRIDGES (he was later named Harry by American sailors) was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1901. His father worked for a real estate company and sent his son to collect rents from tenants, some of whom were unable to pay. This was a formative experience for Bridges as he became aware of poverty and decided that he did not want to enter the same line of work as his father. His growing interest in politics was reinforced by the fact that two of his uncles were members of the Australian Labour Party. Bridges worked as a clerk when he left school, but he really wanted to go sea. He left Melbourne and finally settled in San Francisco, California, in 1920. In 1922, he began to work on the waterfront as a longshoreman. Longshoremen endured particularly harsh conditions. Wages were poor, accidents were commonplace, and competition was fierce to ...

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