Labor Archives Section Directory: Labor Archives in the United States and Canada

This directory updates work done in the early 1990s by the Wagner Labor Archives in New York City. A survey then conducted identified "archivists, librarians, and labor union staff who are collecting manuscripts, audio-visual materials, and artifacts that document the history of the trade union movement in the United States." Similarly, this directory includes repositories with partial holdings relating to labor and workers, as well as repositories whose entire holdings pertain to labor. Known updates were made in 2002, 2010 (James Quigel, editor), 2011 (Traci Drummond, editor), 2014, 2016, 2019 (Conor Casey, editor).

The directory is organized by state, then by repository, with Canadian repositories listed last. Please contact the Labor Archives Section Directory Working Group of the Society of American Archivists, if you have additions, comments, corrections, or questions at lasdirectory@gmail.com. You can also complete the directory entry request form, and the working group will draft a new entry for you based on the information you provide.

Alabama

Alabama Labor Archives

https://alaflcio.com/alabama-labor-archives  [Link current as of 4/04/23]

The Alabama Labor Archives and History is a private not-for-profit corporation that began in 2002 when the Alabama AFL-CIO recognized the need for a labor archives and history museum that showed the progress of organized labor in Alabama. The mission of the Alabama Labor Archives and History is to identify, evaluate, collect, preserve, and provide access to material of labor significance in Alabama.

Birmingham Public Library, Archives Department

http://www.bplonline.org/locations/central/archives/ [Link current as of 7/29/15]

The collection includes charters, records, scrapbooks and other material relating to various Birmingham, Alabama, labor unions, papers of individuals involved in the labor movement, oral history interviews, research files, and photographs.

Alaska

Alaska State Archives

Alaska State Archives Website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The Alaska State Archives in Juneau, Alaska collects and preserves the permanent and historical records of Alaska State government. The State Archives also holds select records created during Alaska’s administration as a District (1884-1912) and Territory (1912-1959), including the records of the Office of the Governor, Court System, and the Alaska Railroad Corporation. Consisting of 24,000 cubic feet of physical material and 40 terabytes of digital records, the holdings of the Alaska State Archives document aspects of labor history from 1884 to the present. Collecting strengths include labor organizing and activism, industrial unions, labor leaders, labor litigation, civil rights, and social justice.

Archives & Special Collections, University of Alaska Anchorage/Alaska Pacific University Consortium Library

UAA/APU Consortium Library website; Labor Collections Subject Guide  [links up to date since 5/27/21]  

The Archives & Special Collections at the UAA/APU Consortium Library collects and provides public research access to approximately 8100 cubic feet and 30 terabytes of archival materials related to the history of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest region, including paper and digital records, photographic and audiovisual material, and some 3-d artifacts and artwork. The repository has 24 cubic feet of labor history records spanning the years 1942-1997 with collecting strengths in the areas of service industry workers, labor organizing and activism, industrial unions, and union members. Collections of note include the Alaska State AFL-CIO records and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 878 records.

Colorado

Denver Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

http://www.denverlabor.org/ [Link current as of 10/22/14]

72 linear feet of manuscript holdings. Non-print holdings include 30 oral history interviews and music performances, 6 linear feet films. Concentration on the labor movement in Colorado. Includes the Great Coal wars, the 1958 Colorado Right-to-Work battle, and the 1977 Coors Boycott.

Steelworks Center of the West Archive

Access is by appointment only. Contact www.steelworks.us or info@steelworks.us or (719) 564-9086 for more information. [Link current as of 08/21/2019]

The Steelworks Archive, includes 6,000 cubic feet of records documenting the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company Steel Mill's steel production, iron and coal mining, geological records, labor relations, land and water resources, employee records, financial records, invoices and work orders, internal company publications, executive memoranda, correspondence, and more, documenting every aspect of the company’s rich history. Of particular note within the collection are the minutes of the Employee Representation Plan created following the 1913-1914 Colorado Coal Field Wars strike in Southern Colorado.

Rare and Distinctive Collections, University of Colorado Boulder

Rare and Distinctive Collections website [Link current as of 7/29/21]

The Rare and Distinctive Collections at the University of Colorado Boulder University Libraries provides public research access to approximately 50,000 linear feet of unique, primary sources with approximately 1800 collections, including records, photographs and negatives, maps, and audiotapes; as well as some rare book collections. Overall collecting strengths include American music, nuclear and anti-nuclear activity in the Rocky Mountain West after World War II, Colorado politics and politicians, experimental film and video, history of natural science and the environment, Post-Holocaust American Judaism, Rocky Mountain counterculture and social change,  Rocky Mountain labor and labor rights, and the history of UC Boulder.  

The extensive labor collections in the CU Boulder Archives reflect Colorado’s stature as an historic epicenter of labor movements in the American West. Notorious, violent labor actions in Colorado, including those at Cripple Creek (1894), Leadville (1896-1897), Ludlow (1914), and the Columbine Mine (1927), as led by the Western Federation of Miners, United Mine Workers of America, and Industrial Workers of the World, contributed significantly to the development of national labor rights, including the 8-hour work day, 40-hour work week, child labor laws, and the dissolution of company towns. Colorado’s resulting pro-labor reputation continued to attract union organizers throughout the 1940s and 1950s, as the city of Denver became the national headquarters of the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW). The International Typographical Union (ITU) – one of the first unions in the United States, was formed in 1852.

Labor collections of note include the Western Federation of Miners/International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers collection; National Farmers Union; Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) records; International Typographical Union collection; International Molders and Foundry Workers Union (IMFWU) records;  International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers collection; papers of Josephine Riche (United Mine Workers); and the Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad Company collection. 

Other Links: 

• ArchivesSpace at CU Boulder Finding Aids Database

Connecticut

Greater New Haven Labor History Research Center

http://www.laborhistory.org/ [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The mission of the Greater New Haven Labor History Association is to collect, preserve, and share the history of working people in the Greater New Haven Area. Collections include AFSCME Local 1939, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Local 125, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Local 151, New Haven Typographical Union No. 47, International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 609, United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America Local 299.

Archives and Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library

https://lib.uconn.edu/location/asc/ [Link current as of 9/9/21]

The University of Connecticut’s Archives & Special Collections has manuscript holdings and vertical file material from 1850 on (including newsletters, contracts, and convention proceedings), concentrating on Connecticut. They hold 600 linear feet of labor records, including materials documenting local public and private unions, labor organizations and associations. They have a particular interest in collecting the papers of labor leaders and union officials. Highlights include documents from the 1960 Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Company strike. Archives & Special Collections is open to the public for research purposes and can provide scans for patrons upon request. A list of all finding aids for labor collections can be found on their website. All of their finding aids, regardless of subject, can be searched through their archivessearch portal.

https://chs.org/ [link current as of 1/18/22]

The Connecticut Historical Society collects and preserves materials, including books, manuscripts, photographs, and objects, which document the history of Connecticut. The collection of the Connecticut Historical Society consists of 3.5 million manuscripts, including diaries, letters, ledger books, family and business papers, 242,000 photographs, prints, and drawings, 125,000 books, serials, and pamphlets, 38,000 artifacts and paintings, 10,000 architectural drawings, 3,700 broadsides, and 1,300 maps.

Connecticut Historical Society acquires, preserves, and makes accessible collections documenting the diverse stories of working people in Connecticut, including books, manuscripts, photographs, broadsides, and ephemera.

CHS holds multiple scrapbooks which document strikes, labor conditions, and trade union negotiations in Connecticut (Ms 93721, Ms 97412, and Ms 87965). A volume of the Collins Company of Collinsville from the 1830s and 1840s includes contracts and copies of notices shared with employees, particularly concerning changes in wages (Ms 71553). CHS also holds the papers of a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Local 68, in Hartford from the early 1900s (Ms 94390). The Merrow Machine Company records, 1841-1972, contain documents relating to unions, negotiations, and strikes (Ms 98645). There are also many broadsides that document Connecticut's labor history, including a Constitution of the Hartford Trades Union from 1846, an announcement for a meeting of the "Republican Mechanics and Workmen" of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company from 1860, and multiple broadsides for the Labor Party from the early 20th century. The CHS also has photographs of Labor Day parades as well as many photographs of various Connecticut industries and of the working people of Connecticut.

Links: 

District of Columbia

Archives, Manuscripts, and Museum Collections, Catholic University of America

http://archives.lib.cua.edu/manucol.cfm  [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The Department of Archives, Manuscripts, and Museum Collections maintains 8,000 linear feet of manuscripts, photographs, and film. Approximately 900 linear feet of the collection relate to labor unions, the Catholic Church's role in organized labor, and working-class Catholics more generally. This includes late 19th century and early 20th century labor union collections like the papers of Knights of Labor leaders Terrence Powderly and John Hayes and United Mine Worker President John Mitchell. The CUA Archives also includes CIO and New Deal related collections like the papers of John Brophy and Philip Murray and the Congress of Industrial Organizations Records. The Archives is especially strong in collections that document the Catholic Church and the labor movement, such as the papers of John A. Ryan, Francis J. Haas, and George G. Higgins, and the Records of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. The finding aids to a number of these and other manuscript collections are available at the CUA Archives website.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center, Gelman Library, George Washington University

http://teamstersarchives.gwu.edu/research-center  [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center maintains and provides access to the archives of the one of the largest and most occupationally diverse labor unions in North America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).

The Teamsters archives include IBT publications, convention proceedings, documentary materials from the various IBT departments, trade divisions and area conferences, photographs, films, and video/audio tape reels and cassettes. The microfilm collection holds the historic administrative record of the union.

A general labor publications collection is available to supplement the Teamsters materials. This includes a comprehensive collection of books on general labor history, American labor biography and labor and industrial relations spanning the years 1856 to the present.

National Education Association Library and Archives, Gelman Library, George Washington University

https://library.gwu.edu/national-education-association-archives  [Link current as of 5/17/22]

The National Education Association (NEA) Library and Archives maintains and provides access to the archives of the largest union and largest professional association in the United States. NEA was founded as a professional association in 1857. By the late 1960s, a movement towards unionization of teachers represented by the Association began in various state affiliates. In 1972, the transition was finalized and the NEA rewrote its constitution to reflect new priorities as a labor union.

Across more than 2600 linear feet, the records held in NEA Library and Archives cover a variety of topics including working conditions and pay for teachers, national and local educational policy, education-related statistics, civil rights and social and economic justice advocacy, and women as professional workers. The records as a whole range in time from 1857 to the present. Most of the records related to labor and working conditions of teachers range from 1930 to the present. The Library holds an additional 1900 book titles donated by the Association.

Repository: George Washington University, Gelman Library, Special Collections 2130 H St NW, Washington, DC 20052.

Online Finding Aid Database: https://library.gwu.edu/national-education-association-archives

J.A. Beirne Memorial Archive, Communications Workers of America

This collection was donated to the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Archives, New York  University, in 1995. Please see the Tamiment’s listing under New York repositories. http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/wag_124/dscref8799.html

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/  [Link current as of 10/22/14]

For a description of the labor-related holdings at the Library of Congress, please see: Special Collections in the Library of Congress: Business, Economic, and Labor History.     [Link current as of 10/22/14]

"The special collections listed below contain materials of interest to researchers in a variety of disciplines, including U.S. business and labor history. Types of materials within each collection that may be of particular interest to the business/labor history researcher have been noted. Other business and labor related materials may also be located by searching the Prints and Photographs Division online catalog, the American Memory Collections, and A Guide to the Microform Collections in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress."

Georgia

Southern Labor Archives, Georgia State University Library

GSU Library Collections webpage; Southern Labor Archives Research Guides [Links current as of 7/29/21]

The Southern Labor Archives, part of Special Collections and Archives at Georgia State University Library, documents the history of work and workers in the South, and the unions, professional associations, and political organizations that support them. The largest accumulation of labor records in the Southeast, the Archives collects manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, audiovisual materials, printed materials, periodicals, and artifacts, both physical and digital, dating from 1884 to the present with the bulk of the documents created post-WWII.

The Archives is the official repository for the records of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the United Garment Workers of America, the United Furniture Workers of America, and the National Federation of Federal Employees. Documented in the collection are the lives and careers of W. J. Usery, Jr., Stetson Kennedy, M. H. “Mike” Ross, Joseph Jacobs, and, through oral history interviews, rank-and-file union members and activists from a variety of backgrounds and trades. Holdings are particularly strong in the areas of machinery, aviation, aerospace, and the airline industry; clothing and textiles; nursing and education; furniture and woodworking; and AFL-CIO administrative offices in the Southeast.

Since 2011, GSU Library’s Digital Collections has provided online access to selected content in the Southern Labor Archives. As of January 2018, over 18,000 documents, photographs, periodicals, oral histories, finding aids, and audiovisual materials have been added to the digital repository. Digitized collections of note include the Uprising of ’34 documentary interviews, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization records, the archives of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Great Speckled Bird newspaper collection and oral histories, the M. H. Ross papers, and the Voices of Labor Oral History Project.

Hawai’i

Priscilla Shishido Library, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142

http://ilwulocal142.org/blog/ilwu-local-142-library/  [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The Priscilla Shishido Library of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142, provides access to historical records of the ILWU in Hawai’i to authorized persons and researchers with written permission. The collection consists mainly of ILWU records on paper and other media, from the mid-1930s on. Materials include ILWU newspapers and publications (primarily in English), photographs, union artifacts, and a founder’s book and reference collection. The Atkinson

Drive headquarters is the site of a three-panel buon fresco mural by Pablo O’Higgins, Solidaridad Sindical, depicting the history of the ILWU in Hawai’i.

Center for Labor Education & Research Labor History Archive, University of Hawai’i, West Oahu

http://clear.uhwo.hawaii.edu  [Link Current as of 10/22/14]

The labor history archive contains a video archive of materials used in the production of the Rice & Roses Hawai’i Public Television series produced since 1971. Videos of the programs produced in the last 20 years are available for borrowing within the State of Hawai'i pursuant to our "Borrowing Policy" which may be found on our webpage. Scripts and research files are also available for reference use at the Center by serious scholars.

In addition the Center maintains clipping file on each local union in Hawai'i as well as an ever- growing collection of contracts, union newsletters, books and pamphlets focusing on Hawai'i's labor history. Among the most highly prized components of this collection are the Honolulu Record, the correspondence file of the Hawai'i office of the AFL-CIO from 1940 to 1982, the files of the Honolulu Central Labor Council, production files and tapes from our Special Research Projects (The Great Hawai’i Dock Strike 1946 and The Great Hawai’i Sugar Strike), authors' notes and research files for CLEAR's publications: Edward Beechert's Aupuni i La'au: A History of Hawai'i's Carpenters Union, Local 745 (1993), William Puette's The Hilo Massacre: Hawai’i's Bloody Monday August 1st, 1938 (1988), Bernard Stern's Rutledge Unionism: Labor Relations in the Honolulu Transit Industry (1986) and The Aloha Trade: Labor Relations in Hawai’i's Hotel Industry 1941-1987 (1989)

Idaho

Blaine County Historical Museum 

Priest Lake Museum 

Museum Website [Link current as of 5/27/21]

The Priest Lake Museum in Priest Lake, Idaho contains collections documenting Priest Lake History, including photographs and three dimensional artifacts as well as paper records, audiovisual material, artwork and prints, and oral history interviews. Labor-related collections span the years 1900-1960, documenting the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), forest service workers, and timber workers. Research access is only provided during the summer months when the museum is open. 

Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library

Special Collections and Archives website; Archives West finding aids database  [Link current as of 5/27/21]

The University of Idaho Library Special Collections & Archives in Moscow, Idaho provides research access to over 25,000 linear feet of collections documenting the history and culture of Idaho and the university, including paper and digital records, photographs, audiovisual material, artwork and prints, three dimensional artifacts and textiles, and oral history interviews. Labor collections consist of 150 linear feet of material spanning the years 1887-2007 with strengths in the topical areas of industrial unions, labor organizing and activism, public employees, labor leaders, and civil rights and social justice.

Indiana

Rare Books/Special Collections, Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University

http://library.indstate.edu/about/units/rbsc/ [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Holdings include several thousand items of Eugene Debs correspondence, manuscripts, pamphlets, photographs, and memorabilia, 1834-1945. Also include materials documenting the Pullman Strike.

IU South Bend Archives, Franklin D. Schurz Library, Indiana University South Bend

http://www.iusb.edu/library/about/collection/archives/index.php [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Holdings include the IU South Bend Division of Labor Studies Records, which contains records from local labor unions and their struggles and other activity with area industries. Contains oral history transcripts, union constitutions, bylaws, contracts, correspondence, dues books, and grievances.

The IUSB Archives also contains the Torrington Company Collection, which chronicles the United Automobile Workers Local 590, representing workers of the Torrington Company, an area heavy bearings company. This collection contains labor agreements, grievances, contracts, correspondence, and pension materials.

Illinois

Manuscript Section, Illinois State Historical Library

http://www2.illinois.gov/alplm/library/collections/Pages/Manuscript.aspx  [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Papers and records of labor organizers and unions, government officials and citizens documenting both union and non-union labor activities in Illinois. Audio-visual materials also available for some collections.

Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University Chicago

The Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects and makes available records of enduring historic value, which document women’s lives, roles, and contributions. The specific areas in which they collect include activism related to women’s issues; athletics; civic and cultural engagement; education; environment; fine, performance, and visual arts; Mundelein College; public service and politics; science, technology, and engineering; social justice; and women religious. The WLA collects labor history as it corresponds to the WLA's areas of collecting focus. Some notable collections related to the history of the labor movement or working people include the Mollie West Papers, the Carol Frances Jegen, BVM Papers, the Sheli Lulkin Papers, and the Helen Ramirez-Odell Papers (contact the repository for more information).

WLA is open to the public and most finding aids for manuscript collections are available online. Other finding aids are available by contacting them at wlarchives@luc.edu. The repository is located in Piper Hall, 970 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60660. Digital and digitized collections include Women and Labor: The Story of Mollie West, an exploration of Mollie Lieber West’s life of activism, and select items from the Carol Frances Jegen, BVM Papers.

Announcements for public lectures, panel discussions, book talks and other forms of engagement with WLA can be found on their Facebook page. Recorded events, interviews, and digitized moving image recordings can be found on their YouTube page. 

Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections

https://www.luc.edu/archives/ [Link current as of 1/19/22]

The Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections collects and makes accessible material related to Loyola University Chicago records, 20th century Business, Chicago history, Catholic history, politics, entertainment history, and faculty/staff/alumni from the university. 

Approximately 120 linear feet of their material relates to working people and labor topics, represented in their business history records (primarily from the 20^th century), university records, faculty papers, papers and collections of businessmen, and papers of U.S. Congressmen. Notable collections include: Dorr E. Felt Collection, Institute of Human Resources and Industrial Relations records, and the Dan Rostenkowski papers. 

Links: 

• Business/Economics/Labor Collections
• Loyola Special Collections Finding Aids
• Loyola University Archives Finding Aids
• Facebook: LUCArchives
• Twitter: @LUCArchives

Iowa

http://www.iowahistory.org/libraries/collections/iowa-city-center/iowa_labor_collection/default.htm  [Link current as of 7/29/15]

The Iowa Labor Collection at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City currently consists of over 1,100 oral history interviews with Iowa trade unionists and 800 linear feet of labor records.

Maryland

Baltimore Museum of Industry Archives

http://thebmi.org/exhibitscollections [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The collections in the Research Center document the history and development of business and industry in Baltimore and throughout Maryland from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Mostly corporate records, also included are union contracts and constitutions.

Special Collections in Labor and Workplace Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Special Collections and University Archives, Hornbake Library

http://www.lib.umd.edu/special [Link current as of 10/22/14]

http://www.lib.umd.edu/special/guides/labor [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The University of Maryland has emphasized the collecting of archival resources and other collections that document the history of the labor movement in North America and the Washington, DC/Maryland region for over fifty years. The Special Collections & University Archives Department in the University of Maryland Libraries includes several major collecting areas: State of Maryland and Historical Collections, Mass Media & Culture, Literature & Rare Books, University Archives, and the Gordon W. Prange Collection. Until 2013, the State of Maryland and Historical Collections stewarded significant labor union collections and materials. With the acquisition of the entire George Meany Memorial Archive and Library, previously maintained at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD, a new collecting area, Special Collections in Labor and Workplace Studies, was established. Currently our labor collections consist of over 19,500 linear feet of archival material, and a library of 18,000 publications and 1,000 linear feet of labor journals and ephemeral publications. Note: A portion of the collection is stored off-site and may take one to two days to retrieve; many records are restricted – please contact us for information.

Included in our labor collections are the archives of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (formerly TWIU, BCT, and now BCTGM), the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA), the Cigar Makers International Union (CMIU), the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBCJA), UBCJA Local 132, and the archives of the Samuel Gompers Papers Project. The University of Maryland is the official repository for records of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), selected records of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and the merged American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), including administrative and staff departments.

These records date from the establishment of the AFL (1881), and offer almost complete records from the founding of the AFL-CIO (1955). The records provide rich resources for the exploration of economic, political and social issues relevant to workers in America, and internationally, and include the papers of Samuel Gompers (selected), William Green, George Meany, Gabriel Edmonston, Frank Morrison, William F. Schnitzler, John L. Lewis (selected), Donald Slaiman, William Pollard, Boris Shishkin, Frank Fernbach, Nat Goldfinger, Everett Kassalow, Stanley H. Ruttenberg, Anne Draper, Michael Ross, Jay Lovestone, Irving Brown, George Delaney, Serafino Romualdi, Morris S. Novik, Vanni Buscemi Montana, Virginia Tehas, William Baillie Baird, Lane Kirkland, Larry Rogin, Alan Kistler, Anthony Wayne Smith, Morris B. Schnapper, Thomas Donahue, Paul Brenner, George Harris, and Gordon H. Cole.

The transportation, shipbuilding, and railroad trades, and related businesses, are represented in our holdings of the Cuba Company archives, the International Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America (IUMSWA), the Railway Employee’s Department, the Transportation Trades Department, and the Work Projects Administration in Maryland records. Additional trade union departments available are: the Building and Construction Trades Department; Food and Allied Service Trades Department; Department for Professional Employees; Industrial Union Department; Maritime Trades Department; Metal Trades Department; and the Union Label and Service Trades Department. Related personal papers: the Robert W. Pemberton papers and the Andrew Pettis papers.

The following labor collections also represent international labor union activities; U.S. labor union activities, topics, strikes and other events; labor education; healthcare, Medicare; and the workplace environment: the International Union of Siderographers (1860s -present); National Organizers Alliance archive; American Federation of Women’s Auxiliaries of Labor; the Baltimore Federation of Labor; the Bureau of Business Practice Collection; the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (including records of the African American Labor Center, American Institute for Free Labor Development, Free Trade Union Institute, and Asian-American Free Labor Institute); National Council of Senior Citizens; Working for America Institute; and Working America.

Additional records available for union programs and affiliate organizations are: the National Labor College; Union Privilege Benefit Program; Coalition of Labor Union Women; Frontlash; Center for Working Capital; International Labor Press; Labor Institute for Public Affairs; National Association of Working Women; and the National Capital Area Trade Union Retirees Club. The Gordon W. Prange Collection includes Japanese print publications produced by grassroots labor unions during the first four years of the Allied Occupation, 1945-1949.

The Labor collections at University of Maryland also include extensive photo documentation of labor union activities from the 1940s to the present in the photographic negative and digital collections of Frank Alexander and Page One Photography, Inc. Additionally, collections of graphic images, over 10,000 audio tapes, several hundred films and videotapes, and over 2,000 artifacts are available for research and study.

For more information on Special Collections in Labor and Workplace Studies, please view these online resource guides:

• Labor in America
• Railroad history
• Shipping and Shipbuilding in Maryland

Massachusetts

Special Collections and Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst

http://scua.library.umass.edu/umarmot/ [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Labor-related manuscripts and photographs with a concentration on Massachusetts, including the Granite Cutters international Association, the rise of the CIO in western Massachusetts, and the organization of the Shirtmakers (ACWA) in New England, 1903. Papers of J. William Belanger (TWUA), Solomon Barkin (TWUA), and Joseph Salerma (ACWA).

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections

The Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections collects, preserves, provides access to, and interprets primary and selected secondary resource material on the culture and history of the university, the institutions and people of the local region, and in a broader context, materials which support original research on topics related to the university's curricular and scholarly endeavors.  Focus collections include the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American Archives, the Archives of the Center for Jewish Culture, the Southeastern Massachusetts Historical Collections, and the UMass Dartmouth Historical Collections. Their documentation of the Southeastern Massachusetts region includes the history of work in the textile and fishing industries.

Notable labor collections include oral history interviews and research papers documenting the New Bedford Textile Strike of 1928. Their records of working people include New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center archives held on deposit, including an oral history project At Sea and on Shore: Work and Community in New Bedford's Fishing Industry.

Finding aids are available online at https://archivesspace.lib.umassd.edu/. There are two collections of digitized materials related to the histories of working peoples or the labor movement. These include the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Archives oral history project interviews for "At Sea and On Shore: Work and Community in New Bedford's Fishing Industry” and the New Bedford Textile Worker’s Strike of 1928 oral history interviews and research papers

The repository is located at 285 Old Westport Rd., N. Dartmouth, MA 02747. They are open to the public and have the capacity to provide digital reproductions for patrons.

American Textile History Museum (formerly Merrimac Valley Textile Museum)

This museum has permanently closed. The majority of the collection was transferred to the Cornell University Library. However, other collection materials have been transferred to other cultural heritage institutions- a webpage with a list of these transfers were archived and can be found on the Wayback Machine. 

Original Directory Entry: Organizational records and personal papers of people and companies associated with the textile industry, 17th century to the present. Includes mills, trade associations, machinery manufacturers, water companies, consulting firms, labor organizations, inventors, and educators. There is also material documenting the lives of early New England mill workers, chiefly women. Non-print items include textiles, tools, machines, photographs, and oral history interviews. There are approximately 40,001 photographs, prints, paintings, audio-visual materials and memorabilia. Emphasis is on New England, but there are also some materials documenting the textile industry in Canada. Union records include the Textile Workers Union of America, accounts of strikes, including the Lawrence, Massachusetts, strike of 1912, and reactions of workers to industrialization in New England.

Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society

[Website link current as of 12/14/21] 

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center in Boston, MA provides public research access to over 300 collections of personal papers of Jewish individuals and families and the organizational records of Jewish community organizations, synagogues, trade associations, and other institutions. Labor history-related collections document rabbis and rabbinical councils; community organizations with a focus on labor, civil rights, and social justice activism; and people involved in the labor movement. Notable labor history collections include the records of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston, the Papers of Albert Gordon, various Labor Lyceum collections, Workmen's Circle Records, Papers of Henry Wise, the Sara Wernor Sloan Memoir, and the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts Records. 

Other Links:  

• Finding aid database
• Digital Archives of the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center

Michigan

Labadie Collection, University of Michigan

Jo Labadie, founder of the Labadie Collection was the chosen agent for unionizing Michigan, and his contributions reflect his mission for the Knights of Labor and his switch to the American Federation of Labor in the 1880s. He became the first president of the Michigan Federation of Labor in 1889. Although his anarchist convictions kept him from later official ties, he retained a lifelong interest in the objectives of labor unions and corresponded with many leaders, notably Samuel Gompers. The first Curator of the Collection, Agnes Inglis, was a supporter of the Industrial Workers of the World, and collected as much as possible connected with the Wobblies. The industrial union strategy of the C.I.O. interested Inglis, who collected many convention reports and other documents. She searched for records of industrial strife in all periods.

The collection covers predominately American labor struggles from the late 19th and early 20th century, into the 1930s. Post WWII materials concentrate mostly on protests against union leadership, democratic caucuses, and radical organizations of black workers. British labor materials cover chiefly the General Strike of 1926 and the National Minority Movement, a Communist effort to infiltrate the British Unions, as well as a collection of materials on the workers in the British coal mining industry in the 1970s and 80s.

The collection consists of monographs, serials, pamphlets, microfilm, sound recordings (in LP, audio cassette and CD format), song books, photographs, flyers, leaflets, broadsides, posters, newspaper clippings, notices of meetings, and union ephemera, such as buttons, badges and banners.

Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections 

[Link current as of 6/24/21]

The MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections in Houghton, MI provides public access to approximately 20,000 published volumes, 1,000 cubic feet of state records, and 12,000 cubic feet of manuscript material documenting the Lake Superior basin and Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula (particularly the “Copper Country” comprising Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties which help to form the Keweenaw Peninsula) as well as the history of Michigan Technological University and selected institutional records deemed to be of permanent historical value. Core topical areas include hard rock copper mining and related industries, industrial heritage, labor history, timbering, the Great Lakes (especially Lake Superior), fishing, sports and recreation, tourism and travel, and social and cultural history. 

Links: 

•  Collection Register
•  Copper Country Historical Images Database

Social media: 

•  Instagram: @michigantecharchives
•  Twitter: @mtuarchives
•  Facebook

Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University

http://www.reuther.wayne.edu [Link current as of 1/09/15, Entry Updated 01/2015] 

Minnesota

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia

http://www.umkc.edu/whmckc [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Established in 1943, combines with the State Historical Society of Missouri in 1963. Branches in Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis include labor-related holdings. Manuscript and non-print holdings (photographs, oral history interviews, video-tapes and films, and memorabilia, including union buttons, primarily 20th century, and the button collection of Harry Von Romer, 1880-1981). Sources document the professions, ethnicity, social movements, the economy, the labor movement in Missouri, African-American and women's history. Includes records of local chapters of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District 9 (1901-1965), significant strikes such as the St. Louis Gas House Workers Union strike against Laclede Gas in 1879 and the St. Louis General Strike of 1877, papers of David T. Burbank, editor of the 1935 Gas House Workers strike bulletin, Ernest Calloway, 1930s and 1940"s union organizer in the South and Chicago, and president of the St. Louis NAACP, 1955-1959, Winifred Lippman, ILGWU leader and first female member of the St. Louis Labor Council executive board, and other significant labor and civil rights leaders in Missouri.

Ozarks Labor Union Archives, Missouri State University

http://library.missouristate.edu/archives [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The Ozarks Labor Union Archives (OLUA) is Missouri's leading repository of records documenting labor union history in the Ozarks. OLUA contains over 1,500 linear feet of records including union constitutions, bylaws, contracts, correspondence, financial records, dues books, grievances, and apprentice programs. The collection also holds photographs, oral histories, and ephemeral items. Most of the documents are unique and record important activities of various labor unions in Southwest Missouri.

FRASER - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org [Link current as of 11/15/2021]

FRASER is a digital library of U.S. economic, financial, and banking history, particularly the history of the Federal Reserve System. Reports and economic research/data on labor conditions, wages, and legislation, from the late 19th-20th century. Collections cover the effects of economic conditions (war, depressions) on marginalized groups, policy changes and labor legislation enacted based on employment and labor data, and a centry of change in the labor movement. Approximately 10,000 digitial files cover material such as: the Bulletin of the United States Beureau of Labor Statistics, 1895-1988; Records of the Division of Negro Economics, 1919-1921; Bulletin of the Women's Bureau, 1919-1983; and the Records of the Women's Bureau, 1892-1995.

Links: 

Montana

Blaine County Museum 

Museum Website [link current as of 6/9/21] 

The archives at the Blaine County Museum in Chinook, Montana provides access to collections documenting the history and culture of Blaine County and North Central Montana, with an emphasis on paleontology; the Native American Plains tribes, including the Aaniiih and Nakoda history, Nez Perce Flight of 1877, and the Battle of Bear Paw; as well as homesteading, farming and ranching, and commercial history. Collections consist of paper and born digital records, photographs, audiovisual material, artwork and prints, books, oral history interviews, and three dimensional artifacts. Labor related collections relate primarily to seasonal migrant workers from Mexico who worked in the sugar beet fields around 1920 to 1950, including the Allison Collection which contains portraits of these workers. Also included are oral history interviews with community members, some of which tell stories related to agricultural, educator, and tradeswomen history.

Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives

 Archives website [Link current as of 6/9/21]

Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections, University of Montana

Archives website; Archives West finding aids database [Links current as of 6/9/21]

The Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections in Missoula, Montana provides access to over 13,000 linear feet and 1.5 terabytes of collections primarily documenting the history of people and places in Western Montana, including paper and digital records, photographs, audiovisual material, books, architectural drawings, and oral history interviews. Labor-focused collections consist of 20 linear feet and span the 1890s to the 1990s, documenting industrial unions, public employees, and rank and file members. Additional labor-related content exists in the archival collections of elected officials.

Montana Historical Society

http://mhs.mt.gov/ [Link current as of 9/19/2019]

The Montana Historical Society Research Center in Helena, Montana was founded in 1865 and contains 40,000 linear feet of collections documenting the history of Montana and the Montana state government. Labor history records span 1876 to the present day and consist of 1,000 linear feet of material with strengths in the subject areas of industrial unions, including the mining, railroad, and lumber industries; labor leaders; rank and file union members; and public employees as well as oral history interviews with members of the local labor community. Collections include records of the Department of Labor and Industry, local unions, and state federations. Records also document significant Montana industries such as mining, smelting and reduction. Non-print items include 300 oral history interviews produced by the Montanans at Work project and 82 interviews produced by the Metals Manufacturing project, photographs of labor union activities, celebrations, and people at work. Memorabilia include ribbons, pins, buttons, banners, and membership cards. They are also the official repository for the Montana State AFL-CIO, Montana Federation of Public Employees, and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 9. A research guide to labor collections is available online.

Tobacco Valley Board of History

TVBH Website [Link current as of 6/9/21]

The Tobacco Valley Board of History in Eureka, Montana provides access to collections documenting Northwest Montana and Tobacco Valley history, including paper records, photographs, and three dimensional artifacts. Labor history related records include the start of the 1918 Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) strike in Eureka as well as oral history interviews with workers from the 1930s to the 1980s.

Nevada

Nevada State Library and Archives

http://nsla.nv.gov/ [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Sources of labor history in the Nevada State Archives include executive, legislative, and judicial branch records that document work, workers, and the history of the labor movement in Nevada. Particularly rich sources can be found in the records of the office of the State Labor Commissioner, created in 1915 which include documentation of labor relations in the state, ethnicity, working conditions, wages, apprenticeships, and reports on disputes between workers and employers that contain descriptions of government interventions and the Labor Commissioner's role as mediator or arbitrator. The records of the Office of Inspector of Mines, created in 1901, contain documentation of accidents, wages, nationality of the workers, working conditions, and company compliance with recommended improvements. Court records include docket books, transcripts, and opinions documenting important Nevada labor cases. Also included are L.C. Branson vs. the IWW, 1908, testing the concept of conspiracy in a Wobbly boycott of local newspapers, and State of Nevada vs. M.R. Preston and Joseph Smith, 1908, relating to manslaughter convictions stemming from the Goldfield labor crisis of 1907. There is also documentation on the Western Federation of Miners, the American Railway Union strike of 1894, the Right-to-Work campaign and labor's opposition to the Right-to-Work law of 1952. The records of the State Councils of Defense for World Wars I and II include documentation of the treatment of radicals, enemy aliens, and Japanese-Americans.

New Jersey

Special Collections and University Archives, Alexander Library, Rutgers University

http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/scua.shtml [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Although the major focus of the Rutgers collection has been New Jersey and its history, significant collections document the consumer movement, social welfare policy, and women's history. The collection holdings also contain records of trade unions, political organizations, and the resources of the library at the Institute of Management and Labor Relations. The Rutgers library serves as the depository for the archives of the International Union of Electrical Workers, including the early papers of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America. The library also holds the records of the National Maritime Union of America (1936-1980), as well as the records of several New Jersey local chapters of national unions, such as the Amalgamated Food and Allied Workers Union and the Scholarship Fund of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Civil Rights issues in the labor movement are documented in the papers of Ernest Thompson, which include files relating to his service on the National Negro Labor Council (1951-1956) and the UE Fair Practices Committee (1944-1958).

Tretoniana Department, Trenton Free Public Library

https://www.trentonlib.org/trentoniana/ [Link current as of 1/27/22]

The Trentoniana Department collects printed and non-printed material of all time periods (including present-day) relating to the City of Trenton, its residents, and to an extent the surrounding areas. This material includes paper and non-paper formats such as video, audio, and digital, as well as some art and artifacts. All subjects relating to Trenton are considered within its realm of collecting, including material about the city, material manufactured in the city, or material created by someone who lives or lived in the city. The Department also collects material on subjects that have relevance to Trenton history such as the American Revolution or the history of industry in New Jersey.

The Trentoniana Department currently holds 350 collections. Collections of note relating to labor topics and working peoples include: Coll. 8 John A. Roebling's Sons Records, which contain employee cards of one department in the late 1910s-early 1920s that include notes on individuals not to rehire due to union leanings; and Coll. 54, a Labor Unions collection that contains information on nine unions.

Links: 

Social Media handle: @trentoniana1906

New York

M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University at Albany, SUNY

 http://library.albany.edu/speccoll [Link current as of 10/22/14]

See finding aids for labor-related collections at: http://library.albany.edu/archive/labor [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Joint Board of the Electrical Industry Archives, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 3

http://www.jibei.org [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Contains the papers of Local 3, IBEW, which document the electrical industry of the New York metropolitan region and Long Island, the papers of Harry Van Arsdale, Jr., and general records of all aspects of the electrical manufacturing, construction and related industry. A media collection contains 1500 videos and reel to reel tapes and 1,200 audio cassettes from union and staff meetings and union special events.

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Holdings include personal and institutional records, oral history interviews, rare pamphlets and union Constitutions, collective bargaining agreements, and historical photographs and negatives dating from the late 19th century to the present. Non-print items include audio tapes of labor music, oral history interviews, and union buttons or ritual items. Bulk of collections are in New York State labor and industrial relations in the public and private sector, the garment industry, labor arbitration and mediation, labor education, labor legislation, and management theory.

Includes some materials relating to Canadian locals of international unions and microfilm collections relating to British Labor. Key manuscript collections include the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, of America, the International Fur and Leather Workers Union, the Joint Board of Fur, Leather and Machine Workers, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. These records contain the papers of Dorothy Bellanca, David Dubinsky, Bessie Hillman, Sidney Hillman, Jacob Potofsky, Joseph Schlossberg, Abraham Feinglass, Ben Gold, Morris Kaufman, Pietro Lucchi, Sam Burt, Henry Foner, and Leon Strauss. Public sector unionism and New York State labor history are documented by the records of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 2, the Assembly of Governmental Employees, the Drug and Hospital Workers Union, New York State AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, and the U.S. National Labor Relations Board-Oral History Project.

Office of the Archivist, Diocese of Brooklyn 

[website link current as of 12/14/21] 

The Office of the Archivist of the Diocese of Brooklyn in New York contains 8,000 cubic feet of institutional records, including official documents of appointment of bishops, pastors, and other officials; parish files; parish anniversary journals; parish boundaries; diocesan directories; reports; financial and administrative records; bound volumes and photo files of the diocesan newspapers The Tablet, Nuevo Amanecer, and Nuestra Voz; marriage dispensation records; records of closed schools and parishes.  Public access is provided by appointment, but records are generally closed for 30 years after creation and sacramental and school records are confidential and subject to restrictions on use. The archives contain a collection related to Metropolitan New York Project Equality, the New York branch of Project Equality, a nationwide project established in 1965 to address racism and discrimination in employment, education, healthcare, and housing, spanning the years 1980-1989.

Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass

[website link current as of 12/14/21] 

The Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York provides public access to 5,000 linear feet of collections documenting glass arts, crafts, and industry in North America and Europe as well as the records of glass-focused organizations, including professional organizations. The library contains approximately 250 linear feet of labor history related collections, documenting the craft of glassworkers and the perspectives of management, laborers, and professional organizations in the field. Collections of note include the National Association of Manufacturers of Pressed and Blown Glassware Records, 1893-1971 (MS 0107); Stained Glass Association of America Records, 1922-2012 (MS 0205); T. G. Hawkes & Co. Records, 1880-1977 (MS 0063);  and a number of glassworker oral histories.

 Other Links: 

• Archival finding aids database 
• Library catalog 
• Itinerant Glassworkers Research Guide 
• Corning Museum of Glass Blog: Women in Glasshouses

Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University

http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam [Link current as of 10/22/14]

The Wagner Labor Archives holds extensive collections of records and papers, including records of individual unions, city-wide, regional, and national bodies, papers of labor leaders, rank-and- file activists, arbitrators, labor lawyers and labor historians, and records of organizing campaigns, union democracy struggles and other collective efforts. In addition to manuscript collections, there are substantial holdings of audio-visual material in all formats, and artifacts such as buttons, T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. And the Tamiment Library is currently implementing a project that archives labor-related web sites (as of 2009). The core collections document the history of labor in New York City, and the bulk of the material is post-1930, with a few collections dating to the era of the Knights of Labor and the early American Federation of Labor. Areas of concentration include performing arts, retail workers, public employee unionism, and the history of central bodies/coalitions -- for example, the New York State AFL-CIO, the New York City Central Labor Council, the Union Label Trades of Greater New York (from 1911), and the Jewish Labor Committee (from 1934). Official repository of the Transport Workers Union, Actors' Equity Association, American Guild of Variety Artists, United Federation of Teachers Local 2 AFT), the Professional staff Congress, AFSCME District Councils 37 and 1707. District 65 UAW, Associated Actors and Artists of America and many other unions and organizations. Subject strengths include women and labor, labor and civil rights, ethnic succession, and work process and employment structure changes in New York City. The archival collections are supported by Tamiment Library collections of related books, serials, pamphlets and printed ephemera.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Archives/Library

http://www.yivoinstitute.org/library/index.php [Link current as of 10/22/14]

Manuscripts and photographs documenting Jewish history and culture, including the labor movement, dating from the 15th century to the present, with emphasis on the 20th century. Holdings documenting labor include the records of the United Hebrew Trades, th e Hebrew- American Typographical Union, including the papers of its president Mayer Kastoff, minute books of several ILGWU locals, records of Jewish labor fraternal orders, the Workmen's Circle, the Labor Zionist Alliance, Yiddish labor theater groups, the Folksbiene, and the ARTEFC (the Workers Theater Alliance). There are also records and copies of the Jewish Daily Forward, including papers of its editors Abraham Cahan, Mendel Osherowitch, Hillel Rogoff, Zukunft, and the papers of its editors including Abraham Liessin; the Morning Freiheit and papers of its editor Paul Novick. Also publications documenting Jewish socialist movements in Europe. In 1992 the Yivo institute receive complete Bund Archives, covering about 800 linear feet, which includes the Records of the Jewish Labor Bund, in its illegal underground period in the 1890s through 1917 and its subsequent existence in Poland and elsewhere. The Bund Archives also includes sizeable documentation on many topics relating to the history of socialism and the labor movement throughout the world.

North Carolina

David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University

[website link current as of 9/21/21]

The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University provides research access to over 10,000 collections documenting ​​human rights, advertising and marketing, medicine, Chinese history, African American history and culture; early manuscripts; LGBTQ history; and Women's history and culture. The Rubenstein’s labor history collections include materials related to 20th Century labor organizing, especially in the U.S. South, and farm worker organizing and activism as well as the papers of organizers and activists and oral histories. Notable labor collections include the J.B. Matthews Papers; Student Action with Farmworkers Records; CIO Records on Operation Dixie, the papers of Lacy Randolph Mason, the papers of Frank DeVyver and Boyd E. Payton, and records of many textile mills (Cannon and Erwin, for example).

Other Links: 

• Duke Human Rights Archive: Labor Rights and Labor Activism Research Guide

Labor history collections with digitized material: 

 North Dakota

State Historical Society of North Dakota, North Dakota Heritage Center

http://www.history.nd.gov/archives/index.html     [Link current as of 12/26/2014] 

Materials document the history of the labor movement in North Dakota. Includes North Dakota AFL-CIO (1911-1981), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Locals 74 and 123, the papers of William Langer, William Lemke, and Usher Burdick (Local 74), and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 1091 (1938-1981). Non-print holdings include audiotapes, photographs, arid memorabilia.

Ohio

Archives/Library, Ohio Historical Society

http://www.ohiohistory.org/collections--archives  [Link current as of 12/26/2014] 

Labor-related manuscript holdings, microfilmed labor collections (including the papers of William Green), and union newspapers. Non-print holdings include oral history interviews, sound recordings, photographs documenting working conditions, strikes, conventions, and memorabilia, including buttons, bumper stickers, and posters. Includes the Little Steel Strike of 1937, the Ohio Right-to-Work Campaign of 1958, and the papers of George DeNucci and Leland Beard.

The Sylvis Society, Cincinnati Historical Society

http://library.cincymuseum.org/ [Link current as of 12/26/2014] 

Focuses on the history of the foundry industry, and includes The Molders Journal, 1863-1988, Molders convention proceedings, 1859 1988, minute books and financial records of expired locals. Non print holdings include badges and anniversary mementos. Materials document the 1866 and 1886 3-hour day campaigns and the producer and consumer cooperative movement revival.

University of Cincinnati, Archives and Rare Books Library

Website: https://libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb.html

The University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Books Library’s labor collections primarily originated from the Ohio Labor History Project. As a result of the Project, the University of Cincinnati received several major labor collections as a result of this effort, including the records of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, the Cincinnati Regional Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers, the Cincinnati Barbers' Union Local 49, International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades Local 308, and several others. Collections of note unrelated to the Ohio Labor History Project include the papers of early 20th century labor activists John J. and James B. McNamara. The collection contains many letters from labor figures including Mother Jones, Samuel Gompers, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and others.

Today, the Archives and Rare Books Library holds 175 linear feet of records related to the history of working people and/or the labor movement. They are open to the public and will scan material upon request. Finding aids are available on the web.

Oregon

Archives of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province 

Coos History Museum

Museum website [link up to date as of 6/9/21] 

The Coos History Museum in Coos Bay, Oregon provides access to collections documenting the history of the Southern Oregon Coast including paper and digital records, photographs, art work and prints, three dimensional artifacts and textiles, and oral history interviews. The museum’s labor collections span the years 1800s to the present, with topical strength in the subject areas of labor organizing and activism, labor union leaders and members, and civil rights and social justice.  

Deschutes County Historical Society 

Historical Society website [link up to date as of 6/9/21] 

The Deschutes County Historical Society in Bend, Oregon provides access to collections documenting the history of Deschutes County, including  paper and digital records, photographs, audiovisual material, artwork and prints, books, and three dimensional artifacts and textiles. Labor records include three ledger books with minutes from the local International Woodworkers of America union meetings.

Liisa Penner Research Center & Archives, Heritage Museum, Clatsop County Historical Society

Multnomah County Archives

Multnomah County Archives Website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The Multnomah County Archives in Portland, Oregon contains 3,685 cubic feet, 16,000 microfilm reels, and 18 terabytes of digital data of records created and received by Multnomah County departments and elected officials. Labor history records span 1936 to the present day and consist of 128 cubic feet of records, 46 microfilm reels, and less than 500 megabytes of digital data related to labor history with strengths in the subject areas of public employees, labor organizing and activism, labor leaders, and rank and file union members. Materials include contracts and collective bargaining agreements; grievances and arbitration; correspondence; organizational charters, bylaws, and constitutions; meeting minutes; union publications; photographs and audiovisual material; and financial records. 

Oregon Historical Society

Oregon Historical Society Davies Family Research Library website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon was founded in 1898 and contains approximately 45,000 cubic feet of collections documenting many aspects of the state of Oregon’s history. Labor history records span the years 1880-2012 (bulk 1920-1980) and consist of approximately 1,010 cubic feet of manuscript collections, 42 photo collections, and 42 oral history interviews totaling approximately 260 hours. They have collections with strengths in the following subject areas, including the personal papers of labor leaders and rank and file union members, labor organizing and activism, tradeswomen, political papers covering labor issues, migrant workers, and civil rights and social justice activism. 

Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon

UO Special Collections & University Archives Website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) is the primary repository for the University's archives, rare books, historic photographs, and serves as one of the largest historical manuscript and photograph collections in the Pacific Northwest. Its mission is to acquire, preserve, and make available a clearly defined set of primary sources and rare books, reflecting the written, visual, and audio history and culture of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and selected aspects of American and world history. The collections include over 200,000 rare monographs, 22,000 linear feet of manuscripts, 19,000 linear feet of University Archives, 400,000 photographs, 5,000 architectural drawings, 5,000 original drawings and illustrations, 150 incunabula, 60 codex, and over 20,000 broadsides, pamphlets, postage stamps, autographs, and pieces of ephemera.

Vernonia Pioneer Museum 

Washington County Museum, Robert L. Benson Research Library & Archive

Robert L. Benson Research Library website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The Robert L. Benson Research Library & Archive at the Washington County Museum located at the Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus in Portland, Oregon, contains “an extensive collection of historical materials about Washington County, Oregon, including manuscripts, images, maps, oral histories, and rare books.” Labor history records include strengths in the subject areas of public employees, migrant workers, women in the workplace, and bracero/migrant laborers.

Willamette Heritage Center 

Heritage Center website [link up to date as of 6/9/21]

Pennsylvania

America's Industrial Heritage Project, Special Collections and Archives, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

http://www.iup.edu/archives/default.aspx [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

Manuscript and non-print holdings, including oral history tapes, the bulk of which are interviews with Western Pennsylvania coal miners and their families, working women in Indiana County, McCreary Tire and-Rubber personnel, and World War II veterans. Approximately 350 photographs and slides. Collection spans the late nineteenth century through the 1980s, documenting the industrial history of Southwestern Pennsylvania with special emphasis on the coal industry. Key manuscript collections include papers of Districts 2,3, and 5 of the United Mine Workers of America, 1896-1980, records of the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company, 1881-1970, The Coal Mining Institute of America records and publications, 1911-1980), and papers of the steelworkers and electrical workers locals in this region. The collection contains papers documenting significant events such as the strikes of 1919, 1922, and 1928, the years of strife between John Brophy and John L. Lewis and the struggle and demise of the steel industry in Pittsburgh.

Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University

http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/speccolls/hcla.html  [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

Manuscript holdings and non-print items, including photographs, sound recordings, films, and oral histories. Concentration on the iron and steel industries, in Pennsylvania. Includes United Steelworkers and antecedents, the Pennsylvania State AFL-CIO and antecedents, formation of the Steelworkers Organizing Committee, the CIO, the Little Steel Strike of 1937, steel strike's during the late 1940's, 1952, and 1959, the Abel-McDonald election, the 1936 national presidential election, and the papers of Philip Murray, Clint Golden, William Mitchell, and I.W. Abel.

Temple University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center 

[link current as of 7/29/21] 

The Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania provides public access to over 90,000 cubic feet and 50 terabytes of historical material, including the Philadelphia Urban Archives, Philadelphia Jewish Archives, Temple University Archives, Contemporary Culture Collection; rare books and manuscripts; and Science Fiction and Fantasy. Temple contains 5,000 cubic feet of labor history related material documenting labor unions and organizing in the Philadelphia region; cultural, civic, social service, and social justice; nonprofits working in the Philadelphia region; and radical and alternative movements in the United States. Labor history collections of note include the Upholsterers’ International Union of North America Records; Textile Workers' Union of America: Philadelphia Joint Board Records; International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Philadelphia Joint Board Records, 1937-1967; AFL-CIO. Philadelphia Council Records, 1892-1979; Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Philadelphia Joint Board Records, 1916-1981; and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), Local 246 (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records, 1969-1982.

Links: 

• Finding aids
• Digital Collections

University of Pittsburgh, Archives & Special Collections

http://www.library.pitt.edu/archives-service-center  [Link current as of 1/18/2022]

The Archives & Special Collections at the University of Pittsburgh collects and makes accessible material related to Western Pennsylvania social history, University of Pittsburgh history, Western Pennsylvania labor and activism, the history and philosophy of science, theatre, horror studies, African American performing arts, and American music. 

The Archives & Special Collections additionally serves as the depository for the records of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) union and also focuses on steelworker, service employee, teacher, and white collar worker unions, as well as the papers of grassroots organizations and labor activists in western Pennsylvania. Records relating to work, the work place, and working conditions provide historians with glimpses at group identity, solidarity, and interest.

Out of approximately 1,200 collections, around 5,000 linear feet relate to working people and labor topics. Notable collections include: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Archive; U.S. Steel National and Duquesne Works Industrial Relations Records; Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. Pittsburgh Works Records; and A.M. Byers Company Personnel Records. 

Links: 

• University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) Digital Collections
• United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) Records
• Union Switch & Signal strike Photographs
• Labor History Cartoons of Fred Wright Exhibit
• Resources on the 1892 Homestead Steel Strike @ Pitt Archives: Strike Information LibGuide
• Pittsburgh Women in Organized Labor @ Pitt Archives LibGuide
• Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania Labor Legacy

Texas

Houston Metropolitan Research Collection, Houston Public Library

 http://www2.houstonlibrary.org/hmrc/ [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

The Houston Metropolitan Research Collection includes a small selection of labor-related collections, including those of the Houston Type Setters Union, Local 84, and of the Colored Trainmen of America. Finding aids can be accessed on the Texas Archival Resources Online website:http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/  [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

Texas Labor Archives, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections 

[link current as of 11/9/21] 

The Texas Labor Archives provides public research access to archival material from hundreds of union locals and labor councils, statewide labor organizations, union political groups, district and regional offices of international unions, and legal firms specializing in labor law, as well as the personal papers of union officials. Collections range in date from 1870 to the present. Augmenting the archival collections are oral history interviews with more than 200 men and women union leaders or labor activists. Labor collections of note include the records of the Texas AFL-CIO and PATCO locals. 

Other Links: 

• Texas Archival Resources Online finding aid database 
• UTA Libraries Catalog
• Texas Labor Archives Web Archives
• Online Archival Resources Guide: Labor History 
• African American History in the Archives: Labor Unions
• UTA Libraries Digital Gallery: Government, Labor, and Politics 
• UTA Libraries Blog: Labor 
• Information about remote scanning services

Galveston and Texas History Center, Rosenberg Library

Website: https://www.galvestonhistorycenter.org/

The Galveston and Texas History Center collects material documenting all aspects of Galveston history, including materials from unions that were located in Galveston, local politicians who were involved in labor affairs, and large businesses that employed many people. Labor collections of note include the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 526 records; International Longshoremen's Association, Local 851 records; and the Aaron Robert Schwartz papers. They also hold a number of labor-related newspapers, including the Galveston Journal, Galveston Labor Journal, Galveston Labor Herald, Galveston Labor Dispatch, Labor Dispatch, Labor Federationist, and the Union Review.

They are open to the public. Finding aids are available online through the archives catalog as well as in person. They will provide digital reproductions of material to patrons for a fee. 

Their labor newspapers are digitized and are available through the Portal to Texas History

African American Library at the Gregory School, Houston Public Library

https://houstonlibrary.org/special-collections [Link current as of 2/2/2022]

Manuscript Collections:
The African American Library at the Gregory School collects the personal and professional papers of African Americans in Houston and the surrounding region for use by researchers. Materials preserved in the collection include the papers of business, religious organizations, social clubs, service organizations, families, individuals, and cultural organizations through documents, photographs, artifacts, artwork, oral histories, and audiovisual materials. Government papers and records that are important to Houston’s African American history are within the scope of our collecting areas.

Photographs:
Photograph collections constitute a significant part of the archival collecting areas as it applies as it relates to African American experience in Houston and Texas.

Oral Histories:
Oral Histories are an important component of the collection and capture firsthand experiences from people who have impacted the community or have unique insights into local history. These interviews are crucial links to document a history of Houston that may not be represented in written sources.

Reference collection:
We collect published works, including books and newspapers, relating to the history of African Americans in Houston, and any print materials that support the Archive’s manuscript collections including on a broad array of topics in African American studies, as they relate to Black Houston, Texas and the African Diaspora. 

Out of approximately 295 processed collections, 78.25 linear feet relate to working peoples and labor topics. 

Notable collections include: MSS 0142 C. W. Rice Family & Negro Labor News Collection, RG R 0003 Colored Trainmen of America Papers, 1918 - 1982, and RG 0064 Independent Metal Workers Union, 1937-1981. 

Links: 

Vermont

Special Collections, Bailey/Howe Library, University of Vermont

http://library.uvm.edu/sc/ [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

Manuscript materials, photographs, and oral history tapes, including the Archives of the United Stone and Allied Producers of America. Includes documentation of the Vermont marble strike, 1934-1936, the papers of John Lawson, John Spargo, Robert Maisel, William Kemsley (UAW), Ralph Williams (Director of the Vermont Council, AFL-CIO, 1962-1974).

Barre Museum, Archives of Barre History

http://www.aldrichpubliclibrary.org/museum-and-archives/ [Link current as of 12/26/2014]

Manuscript and non-print holdings include photographs and oral history interviews focusing on the history of Barre City and environs, 1780-present. Concentration on the granite, pitch fork, dairy farm and processing, and tool and die industries. Includes records of the Granite Cutters International, the Cigar Makers Union, the Quarry Workers' Association, the Clerical Workers Union, the AFL-CIO in Vermont, and contemporary National Education Association material, papers pertaining to Samuel Gompers, Clyde Fussill (Local Teachers' Union), and Fred Snitor, (AFL-CIO in Vermont).

Washington

Archives of the Archdiocese of Seattle

Archives of the Archdiocese of Seattle Webpage [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The Archives of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington was founded in 1850 and contains 3000 linear feet and 2.5 TB of archival material documenting the history of the Catholic Church in Western Washington. Labor history records at the archdiocese span the 1930s to the 1950s with strengths in the subject areas of migrant workers, labor organizing and activism, civil rights and social justice, and workers of color.

Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections 

Digital Commons

CWU Archival Finding Aids in ArchivesWest  [links current as of 6/15/21] 

The Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections in Ellensburg, Washington provides public access to over 2400 linear feet and 9.77 terabytes of material documenting the history of the university and the eight counties in Central Washington, including paper and born digital records; photographs; audiovisual material; drawings, prints, and artwork; books; and three dimensional artifacts and textiles. The repository contains 55 cubic feet of material related to labor history spanning the years 1890-1965 with collecting strengths in public employees, labor organizing and activism, industrial unions, union members, workers of color and civil rights and social justice. Labor collections primarily relate to coal mining in Upper Kittitas County, including the Frederick Krueger Collection. The archives also holds a small set of records from a local public employees union as well as the United Faculty of Central.

David J. Horrocks Memorial Research Center, Issaquah History Museums

Issaquah History Museums Research website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] The David J. Horrocks Memorial Research Center at the Issaquah History Museums in Issaquah, Washington contains approximately 625 linear feet of materials on the history of Issaquah and the surrounding communities. The research center houses a small collection of 7 linear feet related to labor history and includes the collecting strengths of labor organizing and activism; industrial unions; public employees; lumbermen, mill workers, and coal miners; and labor leaders. Labor history from the region is primarily represented in their collection of over 117 years of the Issaquah Press newspaper.

Everett Public Library, Northwest Room 

[link current as of 6/15/21] 

The Northwest Room at the Everett Public Library in Everett, Washington collects and provides access to 1500 cubic feet of material documenting the history of Everett and Snohomish County, including maps, pamphlets, oral history interviews, photographs, film, and published material. Historians staff the Northwest Room and provide reference and research help to the public. The repository contains 15 cubic feet of labor history collections spanning the years 1891-present with collecting strengths in industrial unions, including the Industrial Workers of the World; labor organizing and activism; and rank and file union members. Collections of note include the digitized collection on the Everett Massacre of 1916 featuring photographs, oral history interviews, archival film, recorded lectures on the Everett Massacre, and political cartoons.

King County ArchivesKing County Archives website [link up to date as of 9/19/19] The King County Archives in Seattle, Washington is the official repository for the records of the King County government, consisting of 18,000 cubic feet and 300 collections of paper records, photographs, maps, and audiovisual material dating back to 1853. Information about labor-related collections at the King County Archives can be found on their online Labor History research guide.

Joel E. Ferris Research Archives, Eastern Washington State Historical Society (Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture) 

The Joel E. Ferris Research Archives in Spokane, Washington provides research access to “letters, diaries, photographs, audiovisual material, architectural drawings, maps, and regional business records which reflect the evolution of the Inland Northwest including the tribes of the Columbia Plateau and 20th century commerce and community development.” The archives contains 17 linear feet of collections related to labor history spanning the years 1881-1985 with strengths in the topical areas of civil rights and social justice, labor leaders, labor organizing and activism, and industrial unions.

Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collectionshttp://laborarchives.org [link up to date as of 9/19/19] 

The collection is comprised of the following categories of materials of interest to labor historians: Labor union collections: Many unions have made the Labor Archives the official repository for their historical records -- minutes, office correspondence, membership files, publications and contracts. The collections include the records of the Washington State Federation of Labor, the Washington State Labor Council, and the Central Labor Councils of the most populous counties in the state. Other union collections include, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific, the Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Office and Professional Employees International Union. The collection also includes materials relating to teachers' unions and nurses' associations. The earliest records are from locals of the Typographers' Union, dating from 1882. Other holdings include records documenting the Everett Massacre of 1916 and the Seattle General Strike of 1919. As well, LAWS' holdings include the personal papers of labor leaders, attorneys, activists, and rank-and-file workers, as well as labor rights supporters.In addition, related collections in the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections include pro-labor, radical and social justice organizations that supported organized labor, worker's rights, and civil rights. Occupational and professional associations which articulated the interests of workers of different professions are another component of the holdings. As well, the organizational and personal records of labor critics and opponents offer insights into the strategies and motivations of the individuals and organizations against which unions and worker struggled. The industrial history of the region may be charted by the records of employers and employer associations, some of which were the collective bargaining partners of unions. In addition, the collection includes personal papers documenting the lives and occupational histories of workers in the region.Non-manuscript formats in the collection include memorabilia, ephemera, and oral histories documenting the lives and stories of working men and women. Visual materials include photographs, cartoons, banners, posters, prints, handbills, picket signs and buttons.Labor Archives of Washington Resources:Topical Collections Guide: Many unions have made the Labor Archives the official repository for their historical records: minutes, office correspondence, membership files, publications and contracts.Digital Collections: LAW has over a thousand photographs and digitized documents showing workers, industrial settings, strikes and union activities, civil rights campaigns, and more. Union/Labor Websites: Collection of labor union and labor related websites archived by the Labor Archives via the Internet Archive Labor Landmarks of the Pacific Northwest Map: In-progress, collaborative map of current and historic labor landmarks of the Pacific Northwest. How to Preserve and Donate Union Records/Records Management Resources for Unions

Lincoln County Museum 

[link up to date as of 6/15/21]The Lincoln County Museum in Davenport, Washington provides public access to 7,200 cubic/linear feet of collections documenting pioneer history and rural and farm life in the area, including paper records; photographic material; analog audiovisual material; drawings, prints, and artwork, books; and three dimensional artifacts and textiles. The museum contains collections related to union warehouses and wheat growers and wheat production created as early as 1898.

Museum of Flight Archives

The Museum of Flight Archives in Seattle, Washington contains 5,000 cubic feet of paper-based and photographic materials that document the entire evolution of manned flight. “We have an estimated four million images in our Archives Collection, including photographic prints, film and glass plate negatives, slides, and transparencies. Our paper-based materials include maps, charts, drawings, blueprints, log books and diaries, manuscripts, research and technical documentation, correspondence and philately, and airline ephemera such as tickets, timetables, brochures, and luggage tags.” The Museum’s archives contain about 15 cubic feet of labor history records spanning the years 1939 to 2005 with strengths in the subject areas of tradeswomen and rank and file union members working in the commercial aviation industry, especially records related to flight attendant unions.

Washington State Labor History Archives at the Washington State History Research Center, Washington State Historical Society

Whitworth University Archives and Special Collections 

[link current as of 6/15/21] 

The Whitworth University Archives and Special Collections in Spokane, Washington provides research access to over 600 linear feet of paper and born digital records, photographs, audiovisual material, artwork and prints, books, and three dimensional artifacts and textiles documenting the history of the university, the Protestant religion in the Pacific Northwest, and missionary work. They have one small collection documenting migrant worker history in the 1960s and 1970s.

West Virginia

Museum of American Glass in West Virginia  [Website link current as of 12/14/21]

The Museum of American Glass in Weston, West Virginia provides public research access to collections documenting the history of glass manufacturing in the United States. The museum contains the archives of the American Flint Glass Workers’ Union from 1870-2000 as well as collections from several additional local labor unions.  

Other Links: 

• Searchable online catalog

Wisconsin