When John Zalusky began considering a new home for the valuable ship model he’d safeguarded for the AFL-CIO, he quickly realized the answer.
“I really wanted the Seafarers’ school to have it, to show others. It is a marvelous model, and it will be best appreciated at the Seafarers,” stated Zalusky, a retired senior economist for the AFL-CIO who also headed the federation’s office of wages and labor standards for more than 20 years.
The latest addition to the Paul Hall Library and Maritime Museum’s collection of approximately 40 ship models has a history longer than that of its new home in Piney Point, Md. It has indirect SIU connections, too—Zalusky’s sons Timothy and John sailed with the union years ago, while the elder John has worked with several SIU officials on various labor campaigns and events.
Built during the mid-1950s, the model is a three-foot wooden replica of the clipper ship Young America, a vessel that Zalusky said is fairly well known in sailing circles. It was built by trade unionist Hank MacKennel and given to George Meany, the first president of the AFL-CIO.
MacKennel “said it was a gift for all the good things the AFL-CIO had done for him and other working people,” Zalusky recalled. “For a time it was displayed in the lobby of the AFL-CIO (based in Washington, D.C.). It was then moved to the (AFL-CIO) library.”
Zalusky was asked to take possession of the model when the library was moved from Washington to the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, located in Silver Spring, Md. “When the library moved, the librarian did not want to take it to the new location,” he noted. “Because the model had no cover, it collected dust and resulted in breakage. I repaired it a number of times and built a plastic cover for it.”
“We’re grateful that John wanted the model displayed at the Paul Hall Library,” stated Don Nolan, vice president of the school. “It’s a fitting addition, and it will be seen by many people.”
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