Edward Lamb (1901 – 1987) was an American businessman, broadcasting executive and labor lawyer. He is best known for having defended striking workers during the Auto-Lite Strike in 1934 and for successfully resisting the federal government’s attempt to strip him of his broadcasting licenses during the McCarthy era.
Lamb, born in Toledo, started out as a lawyer and represented labor workers and unions starting in the 1930s. This included Gus Hall who would become the head of the Communist Party of USA.
Lamb became wealthy through investments and bought media properties including a newspaper, radio and TV stations. In the 1950s, Lamb was accused of being a communist because of his past as a labor lawyer and the FCC tried to revoke his licenses. He eventually won his case in 1957.
He was friends with Corlis Lamont, who wrote Philosophy of Humanism, and had his own issue with the government over politics.
Lamb also hosted a reception for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King when he came to Toledo in 1967.
Lamb signed the Humanist Manifesto II in 1973
It is wishful and idle dreaming to imagine that the beneficence of the wealthy or the workings of the law of supply and demand and those other economic dogmas so dear to believers in old-fashioned economics will provide growing freedom and a rising standard of living for the massess. Americans must always win their just political and economic deserts by vigilant and aggressive action.
The greatest force favoring the continued existence of capitalism is its ability to raise the standard of living of the world’s millions. We’ve made tremendous progress in the United States during the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and the New Frontier, and all in one generation. Everything that helps to bring about the wider distribution of wealth will give our capitalist society a better chance to survive. What will it matter if we shorten the working day to six hours or even four hours in order to spread the work? What matters is that all Americans live better this year than last, and better next year than this.
No Lamb for Slaughter p. 239
