W. Carl Scarbrough

International president of the United Furniture Workers, W. Carl Scarbrough was born in Henderson, the son of Joseph Scarbrough, a farmer. Scarbrough graduated from Chester County High School in 1952 and married his wife Faye that same year. They had two children. Scarbrough began work in the furniture industry in Memphis and joined Local 282 of the United Furniture Workers of America (UFW). He was elected president of the local in 1962, and during the next eight years he expanded its membership from three to nearly two thousand. He was elected UFW international vice-president in 1964, and, as a result of this position, was appointed southern regional director of the union at age twenty-nine. Scarbrough was elected UFW secretary-treasurer in 1970 and after serving in that capacity for four years was elected to the international presidency in 1974 by the UFW executive board after the death of the incumbent, Fred Fulford.