He was a spellbinding speaker and a good organizer." Īs a union organizer, Greene sometimes declared work stoppages, as frequently as 25 per day, to demonstrate to company owners his authority on the docks. He used workers to beat up union members who did not come in line, but he was never seen fighting himself. Said to have been collected to build a union hall, most of the funds ended up in Greene's personal bank account.Īn unidentified ILA member would later recall about Greene, "He read On the Waterfront. As a prerequisite to landing a job as a longshoreman, many workers had to unload grain from the ships on a temporary basis and turn their paychecks over to Greene. Greene led sometimes violent protests and strikes to force the stevedore companies to allow the ILA to oversee the hiring of dockworkers. He fired more than 50 members while denouncing them as "winos and bums" to other workers. Those who refused often found themselves losing work. In office, he raised dues 25% and pushed workers to perform "volunteer" hours to assist in providing a "building fund". He was known to drive a green car, wear green jackets, and often handed out green ink pens. Once president, Greene had the union office painted green (to represent his Irish ethnicity ) and installed thick green carpeting. Greene was chosen to serve as interim president and handily won the next election. In 1961, the ILA removed the president of the local union. Some writers have speculated that reading about such warriors inspired his criminal ambitions. In his free time he read about Ireland and its turbulent history, and began to think of himself as a "Celtic warrior". In the early 1960s, Greene worked steadily as a longshoreman at the Cleveland docks, years before the work was unionized by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). He was honorably discharged later that year. Promoted to the rank of corporal in 1953, Greene taught new junior Marines how to be artillerymen. He was stationed for a time at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina and was transferred many times, possibly because of behavioral issues. Military service Īfter being expelled from Collinwood High School in 1951, Greene enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he was soon noticed for his abilities as a boxer and marksman. He was also expelled from Collinwood High School, in that case, due to excessive tardiness, which he claimed was caused by the bullying of fellow students. ![]() He was also a Boy Scout for a short time, before being kicked out of his troop. There he frequently fought with Italian-American students, children of more recent immigrants struggling for a place, and he developed an intense dislike for Italians that lasted his entire life.Īfter being expelled from Saint Ignatius, he transferred to Collinwood High School, where he excelled in athletics. Jerome let him play sports because he was valuable to the team.ĭanny attended St. Although Danny was a poor student, the nuns at St. He was athletic, excelled at baseball, and was an all-star basketball player. ![]() Jerome Catholic School, where he developed a great fondness for the nuns and priests, developed a lasting friendship with some of his teachers, and served as an altar boy. When Danny's father died in 1959, the newspaper obituary listed his children from his second marriage but did not mention Danny. Taking advantage of the fact that his grandfather worked nights, Danny roamed the streets at night. His paternal grandfather took him in, and Danny lived with him and an aunt for the rest of his childhood in the Collinwood neighborhood. He married her, and they started their own family and brought Danny to live with them.Īt age 6, Danny resented his stepmother and ran away on several occasions. In 1939, Danny's father began dating a nurse. Unable to provide for Danny, his father placed him in Parmadale, a Roman Catholic orphanage in Parma, Ohio, three miles outside Cleveland. After this, Danny temporarily moved in with his grandfather (a newspaper printer), who had also been recently widowed. Danny's father drank heavily and eventually lost his job as a salesman for Fuller Brush. He was called "Baby Greene" until his mother was buried, after which he was eventually named after his grandfather (Daniel John Greene). Three days after his birth, Greene's mother died. His father was also born in Cleveland, but his mother was born in Pennsylvania. Daniel John Patrick "Danny" Greene was born November 14, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio, to John Henry Greene and Irene Cecelia Greene (née Fallon).
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