August Green was born in Sweden in 1868 and came to America in 1886.

Most of the workers who constructed the Minnesota Capitol belonged to unions. While a specific union affiliation has not been found for Green, most stone workers were organized in St. Paul at the time the Capitol was built. However, there was controversy over whether workers operating relatively new stone finishing machinery should be members of the unions containing artisans who worked with hand tools and power chisels. Without knowing more specifically what Green did or what kind of stone he worked on, it's unclear whether he belonged to a union during the building of the Minnesota statehouse.