Teachers' unions

AFT Great Lakes Regional Office Records

scaloia — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:34:48 -0500

The American Federation of Teachers is a labor union representing primary and secondary school teachers, paraprofessionals, higher education faculty, professional staff, and nurses and other health care professionals. Regional offices fall under the auspices of the Department of Organizing and are responsible for organizing efforts and other assistance to local and state federations. The Great Lakes Region includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, West Virginia, and Indiana. The Great Lakes Region was once part of the Midwest Region, and records from that office are also included. The Midwest region included Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The records cover organizing projects, collective bargaining campaigns, field director and staff meeting notes and minutes, AFT Executive Council meeting packets, mergers between AFT state offices or locals and National Education Association affiliates, and national, regional, and local conferences. Audiovisual materials include VHS tapes, audiocassettes, photographs and negatives. Files from former Midwest Regional Director Mark Chaykin’s work in other areas of the country are also included.

AFT Local 2003: Hawaii Federation of College Teachers

aorchard — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 11:37:15 -0500

At the time of deposit, the Hawaii Federation of College Teachers, Local 2003 of AFT, included all nine campuses in the University of Hawaii system. The records include bulletins and correspondence sent to members, testimony and a motion by local union Executive Secretary William Abbott, and the Local's constitution.

There is no finding aid for this collection.

David Elsila Papers

kschmeling — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:34:01 -0400

David Elsila is an activist, educator, writer, editor, and historian best known for his work involving the labor movement. He notably served as the longtime editor for the UAW’s magazine Solidarity, managing the publication from 1977 to 1998. Before then, he was editor for the American Federation of Teacher’s publications American Teacher and Changing Education. Throughout his diverse career, he also taught journalism courses at Wayne State University, wrote several books on labor history, served as Vice-President of the ACLU of Metropolitan Detroit, was a board member and editor of the Michigan Labor History Society, and received numerous awards for his journalistic and civic accomplishments.

100 Years of the American Federation of Teachers

dgolodner — Thu, 12 May 2016 10:49:36 -0400

On May 9, 1916 the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the American Federation of Teachers. For 100 years the AFT has shaped the conversation on public education, the American labor movement, civil and human rights as well as the true value of democracy in our society. The AFT started with 8 locals that represented fewer than 5,000 teachers across the country and now represents 1.6 million teachers, paraprofessionals, public employees and health care workers. read more »

(34033) Mary Ellen Riordan, Detroit Federation of Teachers, Detroit, Michigan, 1960s

scaloia — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 15:19:59 -0500

Detroit, Michigan. Mary Ellen Riordan, president of AFT local 231 Detroit Federation of Teachers, smiles and holds up two fingers, with a crowd of people standing behind her.

Podcast: 1933 Chicago Teachers Walkout: That Time Teachers Rioted With Textbooks and Rulers

teller — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 08:30:59 -0400

American Federation of Teachers archivist Dan Golodner tells ALPA archivist and guest host Bart Bealmear about the 1933 Chicago Teachers Walkout, when Chicago teachers joined together to demand that they be paid in actual money and on time, rather than in scrip that wasn’t honored by local businesses and banks during the Great Depression. read more »

[Podcast] Blaming Teachers: How America Simultaneously Professionalized and Patronized Education

teller — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 12:03:22 -0400

Dr. Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz explains how the push to professionalize and standardize educators beginning in the mid-1800s, without granting them decision-making power, has made them the public face of foundering school policies developed and implemented by local school administrators and state and national policymakers. read more »

[Podcast] Building Power, Breaking Power: The United Teachers of New Orleans, 1965-2008

teller — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 11:02:15 -0400

Dr. Jesse Chanin describes how the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) gained power and influence in a region hostile to unions from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s by building trust in the community with transparent and democratic decision-making and a focus on racial and economic justice to improve the lives of the New Orleans community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, however, politicians and charter school advocates fired 7,500 educators in New Orleans, dismantling the city’s public education system and decimating the union. read more »

[Podcast] Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education

teller — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 07:18:53 -0400

Dr. Nick Juravich discusses the experiences of the first-generation of paraprofessional educators in New York City in the 1960s-1980s and their impact on the city’s educational system, community relations, and public sector unions. read more »

[Podcast] The 1968 Florida Teachers' Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism

teller — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:17:07 -0500

Dr. Jody Baxter Noll recounts the 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike, in which 27,000 teachers across the state, amidst a shift in Florida politics toward a pro-business and suburban “Sunshine conservatism” reluctant to raise taxes for public education, submitted their resignations to gain collective bargaining rights and improved school funding. read more »