Harry Krantz
Australian trade union leader (1919-2006)
Harry David Krantz OAM (24 November 1919 – 30 March 2006) was an Australian trade union leader. He was Secretary of the South Australian branch of the Federated Clerks' Union (FCU) from 1941 to 1984.
Krantz, whose political views were formed during the Great Depression, became secretary of the Federated Clerks' Union's South Australian branch in 1941, when aged only twenty-one, after the previous incumbent was killed in a bicycle accident. The branch at this time was almost moribund, with only around twenty members. Krantz became known for his advocacy for the union before the Industrial Court and the Industrial Commission, and shortly after his election as secretary the union established the award rate for clerks.
Krantz joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1942 and served with the Royal Australian Engineers throughout the Second World War, leaving the leadership of the FCU to Elizabeth Teesdale-Smith, first female secretary of a South Australian trade union. He took leave from the army in 1943 and 1946 to run as the Labor Party candidate for the seat of Barker against Archie Cameron. In the former contest, he scored a swing of 15 percent and nearly unseated Cameron. To date, this is the last time Labor has come anywhere close to taking what has long been the most conservative seat in South Australia.
After his return from the war, Krantz was associated with the left of the union movement, being ardently opposed to B. A. Santamaria and the "groupers".
“Harry Krantz” enters the record as australian trade union leader (1919-2006). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Harry, Krantz and Australian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Harry Krantz” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Harry, Krantz and Australian provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 10, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q16017463. VIAF identifies the subject as 120127076. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1919, 2006, 1941 and 1984.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Harry Krantz”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Harry Krantz primary sources, Harry Krantz archive and Harry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Harry Krantz”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Harry Krantz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.