Scholarship Description:
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Parent or guardian is a member of IBEW Local Union #575
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Submit a 250-word essay, "What the Labor Movement Means to Me".
IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Local Union #575 Scholarship Fund is to be officially known as the Gordon M. Freeman IBEW Local Union #575 Scholarship Fund was created in 2011.
The fund is named for an important union leader who worked on behalf of labor organization and service from the 1930’s until his retirement in 1968, according to Dan Shirey, business manager for IBEW Local Union #575.
During the Great Depression in the 1930’s, Freeman helped establish an industrial federation to organize Tennessee Valley Authority workers in seven states, then served on the resulting association’s leadership council. He also served as the vice-president of the 4th District from 1944 to 1955.
Freeman was elected IBEW International President in 1955. During his tenure he created departments for each major industry within the Union to facilitate organization and improve service to all membership groups. Under his direction, the Union helped Locals expand their four-year apprenticeship programs to include electronics, and in 1959 the IBEW appointed a skill-development training director so that full-fledged members could keep up with technological advances.
Along with skilled improvement and atomic energy, Freeman improved the training programs for technical fields such as industrial electronics, motor control, electrical heating and the National Electrical Code. Under his direction, scholarships were also created for students pursuing degrees in electrical engineering.
In 1964 Freeman pushed for organizing efforts in the South where right-to-work laws and strong antiunion tradition prevailed.
He served at the request of U.S. presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson as vice president of the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. He also served on the Executive Council of the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO from 1955 – 1968.
After his retirement, Freeman served as International President Emeritus until his death in 1983.
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must furnish evidence that a parent or guardian is a member of local IBEW Local Union #575 and submit a 250-word essay on the subject, “What the labor movement means to me.”
On an annual basis, the Executive Committee of the IBEW will select a shortlist of potential candidates to receive the scholarship. The Board of Governors or the Volunteer Scholarship Committee of the Scioto Foundation will make the final selections.
From time to time additional contributions may be made to this fund by the IBEW, its members or the general public. Additions may be made in the form of gifts of cash, securities or property to the fund at any time.
Amounts available for distribution from the fund will be based on the current spending policy of the Foundation or will be the net income when not otherwise provided in the Foundation’s spending policy.
Information about establishing scholarship funds or creating other named funds at the Scioto Foundation may be obtained by contacting SF Executive Director Kim Cutlip at (740) 354-4612.