Denver-Pueblo County CO Archives Biographies.....Houston, Clinton C. 1865 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 21, 2008, 7:25 pm Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918) CLINTON C. HOUSTON. The name of Clinton C. Houston is widely known in labor circles in Colorado, for he is the editor of the Denver Labor Bulletin and a former vice president of the Colorado State Federation of Labor. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. December 22, 1865, and is a son of Washington Jackson and Emma (Craig) Houston, both of whom were natives of Virginia. They were married in the Old Dominion and afterward removed to Atlanta, Georgia, where the father had charge of the Christian church. He remained a resident of that city throughout the rest of his days, passing away there in 1874, while his wife died in Atlanta in 1906, having survived him for almost a third of a century. In their family were two children, of whom Clinton C. is the elder, the daughter being Mrs. Nettie Johnson, a resident of Illinois. In early life Clinton C. Houston attended the public schools of Atlanta and subsequently went to Terre Haute. Indiana, where he resided with an uncle, and while there he became a high school pupil. Following his graduation he entered the newspaper field as a reporter on the Terre Haute Daily News, with which he also learned the printer's trade. After several years with the News he resigned and went to Chicago, where he continued to act as reporter and printer for several of the Chicago dailies for a number of years. He then returned to Atlanta and continued his newspaper work on the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, first as printer and later in an editorial capacity. He continued to act as editor until 1906 and exerted much influence over public thought and action through the columns of the paper and also in connection with public interests. During the latter period of his residence in Georgia he was elected to the state legislature, being the first candidate ever elected on the labor ticket in the entire south. While serving his state in that capacity he framed the child labor bill, which passed both houses and became a law and is now in force. Mr. Houston also founded the Atlanta Journal of Labor, which is still the recognized labor paper of the south. In 1907 Mr. Houston removed to Colorado and was employed on various papers in Pueblo and Denver. In 1913, by reason of his thorough knowledge of labor matters and conditions, he was chosen to become editor of the Denver Labor Bulletin, which is the recognized leader of the labor interests in this state, and he has since developed the paper to its present extensive proportions, making it a valuable organ of the labor interests of Colorado. He served a term as president of the Denver Trades and Labor Assembly, and has discharged many important commissions iu connection with the settlement of labor disputes, being appointed to investigate such, and to pass judgment upon conditions, both by the mayor of Denver and the governor of the state. In August, 1917, Mr. Houston went to Washington as a member of a commission appointed by Governor Gunter, which secured the location in Denver of the great army recuperation camp. He was among the first men of prominence in organized labor to advocate state and nation-wide prohibition, on the ground that the saloon is a curse to the working man and has campaigned the states of New York and Ohio for elimination of the liquor traffic. In 1887 Mr. Houston was married to Miss Mina Stewart, of Atlanta, who died in 1903 and was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Stewart. There were two children of that marriage. Everett C., who was born in Atlanta in 1891, is married and resides in his native city. He is a graduate of the electrical engineering department of the Georgia School of Technology. Gladys Houston was born in Atlanta in 1894 and attended high school there. Fraternally Mr. Houston is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He concentrates practically his entire time and attention upon his editorial duties and has earnestly studied every phase of the questions affecting labor and capital, and his work has been of great benefit to the laboring classes. He is free from marked prejudice or bias but seeks justice and fairness in all things. He has done much to line up the forces of labor in support of the administration at this hour of national crisis and has made his paper an influencing factor in the purchase of Liberty bonds and in the support of war work along many other lines. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF COLORADO ILLUSTRATED VOLUME III CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1918 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/denver/photos/bios/houston76nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/denver/bios/houston76nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cofiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb