Roger Newell Remembered

Longtime local labor activist Roger Newell’s life was celebrated last Saturday at a memorial service at Plymouth Congregational Church. A third-generation Washington native, Newell – who died of a heart attack on November 14 -- was involved with a wide variety of community activities and a leader in struggles for economic and social justice since the 1960’s... 

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A Senior Campaign Communications Specialist on the national staff of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the time of his death, he was involved in the labor movement for over 25 years. He served as the Director of the Washington, D.C. office of the National Jobs With Peace campaign and Chair of the Jobs With Justice DC chapter for its first decade, leading DC JWJ’s Workers’ Rights Board committee. An award-winning labor journalist, Newell served as an instructor at the National Labor College in Silver Spring (MD), and was a longtime member of both the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 2 and the DC chapter of the National Writers Union. 

“Roger was a caring and challenging mentor, and an inspiration for social justice action everywhere,” wrote Jon Hartough in a post on the Council’s website. “We will all miss him dearly”. Condolences and memories are also posted on the Washington’s Post’s Guestbook. “(We) have lost a mentor, leader and friend,” wrote Walter Davis in Seymour, Tennesee.
photo posted by Walter Davis