One of Streator’s most famous sons now is cemented in history next to the Illinois State Capitol.

The Illinois AFL-CIO on Wednesday dedicated a new statue to Reuben Soderstrom.  He was President of the Illinois AFL-CIO for 40 years.  The statue portrays Soderstrom with a finger in the air during a speech in 1920 from the flatbed of a truck in Mendota. 

The labor leader’s grandson Dr. Carl Soderstrom was part of the statue dedication ceremony.  Rueben Soderstrom also has a plaza and statue in his honor at City Park in Streator.

He died in Streator in 1970 at the age of 82.