Roger Milliken, R.I.P.

An interesting case from the history of libertarian financing, textile king Roger Milliken, has died at age 95.

Milliken was one of the earliest and most fervent supporters of one of my favorite old libertarians, the anarcho-pacifist Robert LeFevre, who ran the Freedom School in Colorado to spread libertarian ideas in the 1950s-'60s. Milliken used to require high execs in his Deering-Milliken company to take LeFevre classes.

But despite seeing the necessity for LeFevre's libertarian thinking in the big picture, Milliken managed to simultaneously be against free trade when it came to his own business, also financing agitation against it. (Milliken was also for a time on the board of the Foundation for Economic Education, the first modern libertarian educational institution.)

A long report on his funeral from Spartanburg, South Carolina. A bullet point history of his company. Pat Buchanan, who used to be a free trader himself, praises Milliken for his financial support against free trade in textiles and trade agreements, and for being a good boss to his workers. The New York Times obituary, which mentions his fighting against unionization of his workers, and fighting to help a South Carolina college desegregate.

For more on Milliken and LeFevre, see my history of the American libertarian movement, Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.