Researching Frank Foster

Wing Commander Frank William Foster DFC, DSM (10 April 1887, London — 5 March 1963, Reading). Although born in West London, he was brought up and educated in the village of Stockcross in Berkshire. He joined the Royal Navy in 1903 at the age of 16, and saw action in many theatres of World War I, including the Battle of Jutland, in which he gained the Distinguished Service Medal.

He transferred to the RAF in the latter part of the War, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry and devotion to duty. At the cessation of activities he joined the little group of pioneers who were struggling to develop an aircraft carrier deck landing technique on an old converted cruiser — .

In 1927, trouble flared up on the North-West Frontiers of British India, and Flying Officer Foster was drafted with a squadron of old Bristol Fighters to police the Himalayas and keep order. This involved active duty for five years. As a form of relaxation, on one of his leaves he made a trek accompanied by an Indian guide to Tibet, visiting the district of Ladakh.

Returning from India in 1933, a short spell as radio and communications instructor followed, prior to a return to the sea in the ill-fated HMS Courageous. F/O Foster was transferred to a Coastal Command at Plymouth, a comparatively short time before HMS Courageous was sunk by enemy action. Coastal Command service led to promotion to the rank of Wing Commander, involving transfer to Western Approaches Command, Derby House, Liverpool, one of a number of vital communication centres for the three services. It figured in the tracking and final annihilation of the Bismarck. For his service he was mentioned in despatches three times, on 17 March 1941, 11 June 1942 and 14 January 1944.

Wing Commander Foster's service in World War II carried him beyond the normal retiring age, but the day had to come, of course, when he had to take leave of the services, in November 1945. Not for him however was the sedentary life of retirement. In January 1946, he joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) as a Communications Officer, serving until the administration closed down in June 1948. The Ministry of Supply knew the Wing Commander next, and he became an experimental officer acting as a liaison between the Air Ministry and aircraft manufacturers. In December 1955 he had finally to retire from the active scene.

Wing Commander Foster had a wife, Edith, and two children, Harold and Betty - his home remained at Stockcross until the end of his life, when he was taken to the Battle Hospital in Reading after a long fight against Parkinson's disease. He died there on 5 March 1963, aged 75.

In his activities, he was assistant professor of mathematics in the United States Naval Academy, graduated at Andover Theological Seminary (1877), served as pastor at North Reading, Massachusetts, studied at Göttingen and Leipzig (1879–1882), and from 1882 to 1884 was professor of philosophy in Middlebury College. In 1884 he was appointed professor of Church history in the Oberlin Theological Seminary; from 1892 to 1902, he served at Berkeley, California in the Pacific Seminary; and in 1904 he went to Olivet, Michigan as pastor of the college and the village church.

He was an editor of the Bibliotheca Sacra; translated Grotius' Defense (1889); and wrote Christian Life and Theology (1900), and A Genetic History of the New England Theology (on the New England Theology).

Frank Keys Foster (December 19, 1854 – June 27, 1909) was an early American labor leader.

Foster was born in Palmer, Massachusetts on December 19, 1854, the son of Charles Dwight and Jane Elizabeth (Burgess) Foster; married Lucretia Ella Ladd on May 22, 1880 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He grew up in Palmer and was educated in common schools and at Monson Academy. Between 1872 and 1876 he learned the printer's trade at the office of Churchman in Hartford, Connecticut. By 1878 he was working in Boston as a compositor and by 1882 as an editor. Foster took an active leadership role in the early formation of trade unions in the United States. He was a member and secretary of the Hartford Typographical Union; president of the Cambridge Typographical Union; a delegate to the Federation of Trades Convention; secretary of the Boston Central Trades and Labor Union; and secretary to the Knights of Labor. Foster, along with Samuel Gompers, helped to found the American Federation of Labor (A. F of L.), was its first national secretary and president of the state chapter.

In his report to the federation's Chicago congress in 1884, Foster told the assembly, "A united demand for a shorter working day, backed by thorough organization, will prove vastly more effective than the enactment of a thousand laws depending for the enforcement upon the pleasure of aspiring politicians and sycophantic department officials," asking member unions to vote on "the feasibility of a universal strike for a working day of 8 (or 9) hours to take effect not later than May 1, 1886," ushering in the eight-hour labor-reform movement.

Foster helped to steer labor unions away from Socialist and Marxist philosophy and toward the Democratic Party. He was nominated for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts at the Democratic Party Convention in Worcester on September 30, 1886. Although he narrowly lost the election by some two thousand votes he led the ticket and had an impressive showing in Boston. He was founder and editor of the Haverhill (Mass.) Daily and Weekly Laborer, editor of the Labor Leader and editor and publisher of the monthly magazine The Liberator. He authored several books including a novel, The Evolution of a Trade Unionist (1901), and a book of poetry, The Karma of Labor, and other Verses (1903).

Foster also attained fame through a historic debate at Faneuil Hall in 1904 in which he engaged Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University, on the principles of trade unionism. He was a great lecturer and Labor Day orator who spoke in 23 states. He was also a member of the board of managers of the Franklin Fund, a trustee of the Boston Public Library, a member of the Committee of 100, Boston Chamber of Commerce, the New England Civic Federation, the Boston Economic Club and the Boston Chess Club.

Foster was taken ill in February 1907. The Federation provided financial assistance to his family during his illness until his death in June 1909. The funeral was held at his home at 61 Wrentham St., Ashmont, on 29 June 1909. The Rev. Arthur Little, Pastor of the Second Congregational Church at Dorchester, conducted the services. Interment was at Cedar Grove Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers included the Hon. John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston, Henry M. Whitney, E. A. Grozier, and Benjamin Joy.

Jonathan Widran of AllMusic gave Red Wings and Six Strings four stars out of five, writing that "Foster's ability to connect lies in the raw emotional authenticity of his storytelling." Southern Soul sold 6,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number 11 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 67 on the Billboard 200. Rhythm and Whiskey debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and No. 4 on the Hot Country Albums chart, with 9,000 copies sold in the US the first week.