William Ross Knudsen
William Ross Knudsen (September 30, 1892 – 1977) was an American socialist political activist and trade union organizer. Knudsen was an organizer for the International Association of Machinists and the leader of two major strikes conducted by that organization. He was also the 1923 candidate for Mayor of San Francisco of the Socialist Labor Party of America. Biography Early years Knudsen was born in Petaluma, California to ethnic German immigrant parents: his father was a chicken rancher. He attended school in San Jose, California, before enrolling in the University of California, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1914. Socialist Knudsen recounted the story behind his radicalization in a magazine article published in the monthly magazine of the Trade Union Educational League in 1922. In the autobiographical article published there, Knudsen declared his political activity dated to his inadvertent embroilment in a free speech demonstration, when he was swept up and arrested although merely a passerby. Knudsen wrote: "There was a free speech fight on, but of it I knew nothing. Suddenly a policeman’s hand shook my shoulder, and when, insulted, I resisted, I was slammed in the jaw; completely subdued, I was brought before the police