American Federation of Labor

W. Ellison Chalmers Papers

drice — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:39:11 -0400

W. Ellison Clamers worked for the federal gevernment from 1934-1947, serving as a delegate to the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1935, after which he became a professor of economics at the University of Illinois.
The Chalmers Papers reflect the early history of the auto unions through correspondence, press releases, and reports pertaining to the AFL's efforts to organize the auto industry in the early 1930s. Also included: materials pertaining to workers' education, including the Bryn Mawr and the University of Wisconsin summer schools, and the Pittsburgh Labor College; and class notes Chalmers took while studying for his Ph.D. with Professor John R. Commons and other labor economists at the University of Wisconsin. Correspondents include John R. Commons, Francis Dillon, Paul Douglas, William Green, Sidney Hillman, John L. Lewis, Francis Perkins, and Norman Thomas.

Irwin L. Deshetler Papers

drice — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:49:43 -0400

Material collected by Mr. DeShetler as secretary-treasurer of the AFL Flat Glass Workers Union (1935-37), president of the CIO Federation of Glass, Ceramic and Sand Workers (1939-42), CIO regional director of southern California (1946-52), CIO assistant regional director of Region 13 (1952-55), AFL-CIO assistant regional director of Region 22 (1955-68) and National AFL-CIO coordinator for Farm Workers (1968-71). Various activities of the Glass Workers Union, such as Executive Board meetings (1935-39), factional disputes and organizing, political campaigns in California (1953-68), jurisdictional raiding, AFL-CIO merger, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, and welfare programs in Los Angeles (1947-56) are covered.

Francis J. Dillon Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:47:20 -0500

This collection consists of correspondence and official communications of the United Automobile Workers of America and AFL Federal Labor Unions in the auto industry (1934-36); minutes and proceedings of the National Council of the Federal Labor Unions (1934-35); press releases (1934-41); newsletters (1934); and six scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and memorabilia (1934-43). The materials were collected by Mr. Dillon, who was assigned in 1933 as an AFL organizer in the automobile industry in the Detroit, Flint, and Pontiac, Michigan, area. From 1935 to 1936, he served as the first president of the United Automobile Workers of America, appointed to the post by AFL President William Green. Subjects include AFL and CIO organizing and jurisdictional disputes; Automobile Labor Board; communism within unions; company unions; labor legislation; origins of the UAW; and UAW internal conflicts. Major correspondents are William Collins, William Green, Ed Hall, Otto Kleinert, Michael Manning, Homer Martin, John Pickering, Fred Pieper, Thomas Ramsay, Herbert Richardson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robert F. Wagner, and Forrest Woods.

Arthur Elder Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:23:45 -0500

Correspondence, reports, and a scrapbook relating to the AFL and education (1941–49); correspondence, reports, resolutions, studies, hearings, and clippings pertaining to the American Federation of Teachers (1934–50), the Michigan Federation of Teachers (1937–49), and the Detroit Federation of Teachers (1921–51); correspondence relating to the organizing efforts of the MFT (1939–53), and to the dismissal of teachers in the Flint area (1937–49); correspondence, clippings, and documents pertain- ing to the Workers Education Service (1936–48); and miscellaneous off ice files. The materials were collected by Mr. Elder, who served as vice-president of the AFT, president and secretary of the Michigan and Detroit federations, and director of the University of Michigan Workers Education Service. Subjects include AFT and the communist issue, history of the AFT, federal aid to education, New York City teachers' dispute, tenure for teachers, and the termination of the U of M Workers Education Service. Among the correspondents are Frank Martel, Frank Murphy, Mark Starr, Norman Thomas, and Arthur Vandenberg.

Phillips Garman Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:45:24 -0500

Material by Mr. Garman, who worked with the AFL in 1934 and with the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago in 1936. From 1938-41 he served as director of research for the International Printing Pressmens and Assistants Union; in 1941 he became the chief of the War Production Board's industrial relations section; in June, 1945 he was appointed co-chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board. Presently, Mr. Garman is teaching at the University of Illinois. Subjects include AFL's organizing of unskilled industrial workers (1934-36), especially auto workers; auto strikes; Auto Labor Board (1934-35); company unions (1934-36); CIO formation (1934-35); union factionalism, (1934-35); GM Strike (1945-46); government administration of coal mines (1946); Labor-Management Conference called by President Truman (November, 1945); and unionization of newspaper and publishing industries (1907-42). Major correspondents are William Collins, Francis Dillon, and Leo Wolman.

Matt Kobe Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:28:07 -0500

Miscellaneous labor material including a 1914 copy of the Miners Bulletin, concerned with the copper strike in Calumet, Michigan. Also in the collection is a 1921 letter from Frank X. Martel, head of the Detroit Federation of Labor, discussing a proposal to move Labor Day from September to May.

John L. Lewis Papers

drice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:49:58 -0500

This microfilm edition of the John L. Lewis papers contains his more personal files. Materials included are: correspondence (1907-69) with letters from Amelia Earhart, Dwight D. Eisenhower, J. W. Harriman, and Lyndon B. Johnson; speech drafts and printed copies of speeches and reports (1912-57); UMWA financial and travel notebooks (191 1-26), which show Lewis's rise from AFL representative to UMWA president; photos of Lewis's public and private life (1901-06, 1960-69); genealogical information (1879, 1906-43); household records (1913-61); and magazine and newspaper clippings.

Original papers are housed at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Michael Manning Papers

drice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:42:43 -0500

Correspondence, minutes, reports, and leaflets collected by Mr. Manning, who served in many offices during the 1930's period of auto unionization. He was a member of the AFL's National Council of Automotive Federal Labor Unions (1934-35), president of AFL Federal Labor Union 18677 at the Kelsey-Hayes plant in Detroit (1934-35), member of the General Executive Board of the UAW (1935), and president of UAW West Side Local 174 in Detroit. The Automobile Labor Board, National Industrial mference Board (1934),and NLRB elections at Kelsey-Hayes are covered. Correspondents include Francis Dillon, William Green, Frank Morrison, Louis Rabaut, and Arthur Vandenberg.

Helen and Mardy Polaner Papers

abarker — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:06:21 -0400

Attorney Helen Moore Polaner was active in various civil liberties and labor organizations, including Americans for Democratic Action and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Ms. Polaner served as president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers from 1945-1950 and was the first female vice president of the Michigan Federation of Labor. Mardy Polaner served as a labor organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), working with the Seafarers International Union (SIU) in the Great Lakes Region and the Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union in Ohio. The Helen and Mardy Polaner Collection documents their careers in the labor movement and their involvement in civil liberties issues in the Detroit area.

Blanche Rinehart Papers

aergas — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 11:03:01 -0400

This collection includes correspondence, drafts and manuscripts relating to Rinehart's biography of Samuel Gompers. Also included are interviews with Mary Anderson, Elizabeth Christman and Mary Erb.

Saginaw Federation of Labor Records

drice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:08:20 -0500

Files from the Saginaw (Michigan) Federation of Labor. Included are minutes for 1926-41, and minutes of an affiliated body, Carpenters Local 334 for 1917-38. Other items include miscellaneous correspondence, financial statements, and membership applications.

Ted F. Silvey Papers

drice — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:21:11 -0500

Ted Silvey began in the printer's trade before moving up the ranks in the Ohio Congress of Industrial Organizations and joining the national CIO Speakers Bureau in 1944. In that capacity, he lectured at labor union schools, union meetings and conferences, and non-union gatherings. His papers document his public speaking for the CIO as well as his writings, especially those on automation, computer, and industrial technology.

Joseph Smith Papers

drice — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:52:45 -0500

Joseph Smith played a leading role in the Michigan labor movement, serving several terms as president of the United Mine Workers District 24, and being active in the Michigan Federation of Labor and the state Congress of Industrial Organizations executive board. His papers relate primarily to his activities with the UMWA in Bay City, Michigan.

Hugh Thompson Papers

drice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:43:43 -0500

Mr. Thompson was an organizer for the AFL, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, and was one of the first paid organizers for the UAW. He was active for the UAW in the Anderson, Indiana, area in early 1937, and directed the strike against General Motors in Oshawa, Ontario, in the spring of 1937. These events are particularly well documented in the collection. Correspondents include George Addes, Francis Dillon, Richard Frankensteen, John L. Lewis, Homer Martin, Philip Murray, David McDonald, Walter Reuther, and R.J. Thomas. An oral history interview with Mr. Thompson is available.

UAW Local 5 Records

drice — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:48:46 -0400

United Auto Workers Local 5 began in 1933 as an American Federation of Labor local at Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana, established in opposition to depression conditions. By the time it became affiliated with the UAW in 1935 it was the largest auto local in the early struggle to establish auto unions and one of the earliest to organize. They joined with other industrial unions to form the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1937 and remained one of the leading locals in UAW history through the 1950s. Local 5 records reflect their operation and programs through the demise of Studebaker in 1965.

UAW Local 9 Records

drice — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:47:42 -0400

United Auto Workers Local 9 was chartered as an American Federation of Labor local in 1933, servicing workers at the Bendix Products Corporation in South Bend, Indiana. After a disagreement with the AFL, the local joined the UAW in 1935, participating in the auto industry's first sit-down strike the following year. Local 9 records document its organization, factional struggles with the AFL as well as the company union, Bendix Employees Association, and general operations.

(31013) Florence Rood

jhelpap — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:31:07 -0500

Florence Rood, 2nd AFT President and the first woman to be president of a union in the AFL.

AFL Auto-Worker