Wilbur Hobby (November 8, 1925 – May 9, 1992) was an American labor unionist. He was the president of the North Carolina chapter of the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) from 1969 to 1981. Hobby also was active in North Carolina politics, running unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1972. Hobby strove to provide security and stability to the working lives of ordinary people, something he never had as a child. He used politics as a means to this end, but he entered the field at a time when segregationist forces were still very strong in the South. Hobby attempted to counter this by promoting a populist message that crossed racial lines that he hoped would become part of mainstream political conversation in North Carolina. However, his career ended in scandal with a conviction on felony corruption charges in 1981. Early life, education, and service Wilbur Hobby was born in Durham in 1925, the son of a bricklayer and a cleaning lady who divorced when he was eight years old. The family struggled to make ends meet throughout most of his childhood. Sometimes, he had to skip school to pick up free groceries for the family, which included four brothers. Hobby moved more than twenty times, usually within the blue-collar Edgemont section of Durham. His father abandoned the family when he was seven or eight years old. Hobby dropped out of school in the ninth grade. He then worked various odd jobs, including as the Durham Bulls first uniformed batboy. For a brief period of time, he moved to Dayton to work as a trainer for a minor league baseball team, the Dayton Ducks. Hobby returned to Durham in 1942. He stated that "[t]he war was going on and November rolled around and I became seventeen and so I threatened to kill myself if my mother didn't sign for me to get into the navy". Hobby served in the South Pacific. His ship participated in the retaking of the Philippines. Hobby also saw action near China before he was discharged in 1946. His oldest brother, however, did not survive the war; he was killed in Saint-Lô, France, in 1944. Labor career Early years at American Tobacco Hobby returned to Durham in 1946. He took a job at the American Tobacco Company's plant in Durham as a machine oiler for 75 cents per hour