American Federation of Labor records, 1888-1955

Author / Creator

American Federation of Labor

Available as

Online

Physical

Summary

Records including files of AFL Presidents Samuel Gompers and William Green; files of various AFL officials and departments including AFL Economist Boris Shishkin, American Federationist editor Flor...

Records including files of AFL Presidents Samuel Gompers and William Green; files of various AFL officials and departments including AFL Economist Boris Shishkin, American Federationist editor Florence Thorne who was also the Director of Research, Labor Housing Conference executive secretary Catherine Bauer, the Office of Information and Research, and the Mining Department and its head, James Lord; and general files on federal and state legislation, industry and labor developments, strikes and agreements, and other topics. Present are Executive Council minutes for 1952 only. The disc recordings include a Labor day message by George Meany, Sept. 5, 1955, and an AFL convention of unknown date.

Approximately one-third of the collection are files from the Office of the President. As varied in content as it is voluminous, the Gompers general correspondence included in these files is primarily incoming letters and generally deals with public issues confronting the Federation such as politics, legislation, legal proceedings, relations with foreign labor groups, World War I, and numerous other topics. Gompers' correspondence with national and international unions concerns basic trade union activities such as organizing, granting of charters, jurisdictional disputes, strikes, lockouts, boycotts, and similar matters. William Green's presidency is documented by files on the topics above plus information on the formation of the CIO and relations between the CIO and AFL, the New Deal, and World War II related events and organizations. Also in the files of the President's Office are speeches and writings by both Gompers and Green, conference and convention papers, hearing testimony, and resolutions, reports, clippings, and other types of material filed both with the correspondence and separately as a reference file.

The other large series in the collection are the Industry Reference File (1930-1950), the files of the Director of Research (ca. 1935-1952), and the Strikes and Agreements File (1898-1953). The Industry Reference File contains correspondence, statistical data, clippings, and copies of other documents concerning industrial conditions and state and federal legislation relevant to industry and labor. Materials deal with NRA codes; wage and hour hearings and rulings; World War II related production, housing, and labor problems; post-war adjustment; and other topics. Files of Florence Thorne as Director of Research also pertain to World War II and to post-war problems as well as Social Security, old age insurance generally, unemployment compensation, and health issues. The Strikes and Agreements File contains correspondence, reports, and other material exchanged by union locals and the president of the AFL, filed by local union number.

Among the remaining materials in the collection are files on state anti-labor laws, right-to-work legislation, and unemployment compensation provisions and decisions; files of National Labor Relations Board communications; minutes and other records on the Labor Policy Committee of the War Assets Administration; files on general economic and social topics such as civil rights, child welfare, education, and national defense; and correspondence, 1933-1938, concerning problems arising from Works Progress Administration projects.

The processed portion is summarized above and is described in the register. Additional accessions are described below.

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