United Electrical Workers/Labor Collections
Archives Service Center
University of Pittsburgh
7500 Thomas Boulevard, 2nd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412) 244-7091
Fax: (412) 244-7077
Email: archives@library.pitt.edu
Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania Labor Legacy Website
Records relating to work, the work place, and working conditions, which provide historians with glimpses at group identity, solidarity, and interest, represent a very important segment of the archives. The Archives Service Center also serves as the depository for the records of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) and also focuses on service employee, teacher, and white collar worker unions and the papers of grassroots organizations and labor activists.
The UE/Labor Archives, an outstanding collection, is one of a group of 35 U.S. repositories whose holdings were selected for description in Labor History (Winter-Spring 1990).
Two main groupings of records comprise the UE/Labor Archives holdings:
The UE Archives. By contractual agreement, the University of Pittsburgh is the official depository for the historical records at the national, district, and local levels of the union.
The Labor Collections. The records of labor and grassroots organizations, business records, and personal papers that document the history of labor, the workforce, and working class social and political issues have also been acquired.
Founded in 1936 at a convention in Buffalo, the UE became one of the charter unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and at one time the third largest industrial union (after steel and autoworkers) in the country. Enrolling working people across the U.S. and Canada employed at companies such as GE, Westinghouse, General Motors Electrical, RCA, and Sylvania, as well as numerous independent shops, the UE attained a peak membership of 700,000 during World War II. The UE later entered a critical period, where rival unions, under the banner of anti-Communism, competed for the allegiance of UE's membership.
The conflicts and struggles, as well as the phenomenal early organizing successes are richly documented in the records. The UE archives has been a prime resource for the study of union politics and policies, and, especially, for examining the impact of "McCarthyism," broadly defined, on the labor movement. The collection is also a magnet for studies of the history and experiences of women in the industrial workforce and within industrial unions and American and Canadian communities where UE locals existed. The UE collection also contains printed material, labor cartoons of staff artist Fred Wright, the UE News photographic archives, and a collection of films and taped radio broadcasts produced by the Education Department.
Access
Certain collections held by the Archives Service center are subject to donor, administrative, or conservation restrictions. Researchers should contact archives@library.pitt.edu or telephone 412-244-7091 in advance of any visit to ensure availability of any collection in which they are interested.
UE Archives Holdings
The United Electrical Workers records are closed for a twenty-five year period.
- UE National Headquarters Records, 1935-1980
- District #1 (Philadelphia) Records, 1935-1980
- District #2 (Boston) Records, 1935-1960
- District #6 (Pittsburgh) Records, 1935-1960
- District #7 (Cleveland) Records, 1935-1960
- Local 107 (Lester, Pa.) Records, 1944-1986
- Local 601 (E. Pittsburgh, Pa.) Records, 1949-1952
- Local 610 (Wilmerding, Pa.) Records 1944-1986
- Local 1114 (Chicago, IL.) Records 1940-1980
- Local 1150 (Chicago, IL.) Records 1940-1980, plus
- Miscellaneous Local's Records
- District 2 (Massachusetts and Connecticut)
- District 7 (Ohio)
- District 9 (Indiana)
- District 10 (California)
- Fred Wright Labor Cartoon Collections, c. 2000 original cartoons and other drawings
- UE News Photographic Archives, individuals, locals, conventions, strikes, etc., 1935-1980.
- UE News (microfilm), 1939-1982.
- People's Press (predecessor of UE News), 1937-1939.
- Sound recordings (100 plus audiocassettes, miscellaneous phonograph records and phonodisks.
- Films produced by the UE Education Department on world affairs, strikes, conventions, and other subjects. Some animated films use Fred Wright drawings and designs.
The Labor Collections with emphasis on Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania
- Allegheny County Labor Council, Pittsburgh, Records, 1961-1985
- American Federation of Teachers, Local 2067, Community College of Allegheny County, 1971-
- American Federation of Teachers, Local 2097, North Allegheny Federation of Teachers
- American Federation of Teachers, Local 2340, West Mifflin Federation of Teachers, 1970-1982
- American Federation of Teachers, Local 3412, Robert Morris College, Moon Township
- American Federation of Teachers, Local 4270, (Upper St. Clair Education Association, Pittsburgh), 1954
- Bakers' Union No. 44, Pittsburgh, Minute Books, 1915-1950, (mostly in Yiddish)
- Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International Union Local 12, Pittsburgh, 1949-1980
- Bakery Drivers' Union, Teamsters Local 485, Pittsburgh, 1954-1972
- Brewers Workmen Union of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, International Union of United Brewery Workers, Local 22, 1887-1892 (Minute book in German)
- Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local 9, Pennsylvania, 1891-1993
- Bricklayers and Allied Trades, Local 11, Washington, Pa.,
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Imperial, Pa.
- Federation of Telephone Workers of Pennsylvania, Western Region, Pittsburgh, 1945-1983
- Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 61, Neville Island, Pittsburgh, 1945-1986
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Contracts, 1947-1970
- International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Technical, Salaried and Machine and Furniture Workers [IUE], Local 601, Pittsburgh, 1945-1986
- International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, Local 67, Pittsburgh, 1937-1942
- International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, Local 144, Pittsburgh, 1946-1981
- International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, Joint Local Executive Board for Locals 22, 67, and 144
- Iron City Legal Assistance Workers (ICLAW), UAW District 5, Pittsburgh, 1981-1984
- Pennsylvania Brewery Workers Council, Leechburg, Pa., 1938-1983
- Pittsburgh Central Labor Union, 1929-1965
- Pittsburgh Musicians Union, Local 60-471, Pittsburgh, Records, 1906-1967
- Pittsburgh Typographical Union No. 7, Pittsburgh, 1867-1973
- Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 101, Millvale, Pa., 1937-1979
- Service Employees International Union, Local 29, Pittsburgh, 1960-1980
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 585, Blawnox, PA., 1965-1979
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Pennsylvania
Social Services Union (PSSU) Local 668, Pittsburgh, 1971-
- Tile Layers Helpers Union Local 20, 1907-1943
- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters' District Council of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Minutes, 1887-1960, (microfilm)
- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 165, Pittsburgh, 1961-1991, includes records of Local 431, Wilkinsburg, Pa.
- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 23, Pittsburgh, 1910-1970
- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 325, Pittsburgh, 1941-1994
- United Steel Workers of America, Local 1272, (South Side, Pittsburgh), 1937-1999
- United Steel Workers of America, Local 1397, Homestead, PA,
- United Steel Workers of America, Local 1843, Hazelwood, Pa., 1941-1999 Minute Books, 1937-1945 and other records 1945-1965
- United Steel Workers of America, Local 2746, Lockhart, McKees Rocks, Pa., 1942-1952
- United Stone and Allied Product Workers of America, 1937-1970 filed as Gaston LeBlanc Papers
- Utility Workers Union of America, Local 101, Washington, Pa., 1937-1970
Business Records Documenting the Workforce
- A. M. Byers Company. (Ambridge and Southside, Pittsburgh), Personnel Records, 1905-1960 (Iron forgings company).
- William Gaughan Collection. Contains some business records of U.S. Steel.
- Francis E. Highton Papers, 1940-1980, General Electric labor economist
- Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp. [LTV], (Hazelwood and Southside), Employment Cards and Payroll Books, 1862-1960
- USX Corp. (Duquesne Works and National Works) Records, 1904- 1990
Other Collections
- Beaver Valley Labor History Society, microfilm and oral history
Grassroots/Political Activist Organizations Holdings
- Allegheny Conference on Human Development (see Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 61)
- Armour Workers United, 1983-1985
- Denominational Ministry Strategy (DMS, also DMX) Records,1982-1996
- Environmentalists for Full Employment, Washington D.C., 1977-1982
- Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 61 (see above)
- Mon Valley Unemployed Committee (MVUC), 1982-1990
- Rainbow Kitchen Records (Homestead, Pa) Records, 1982- ,
- Tri-State Conference on Steel (Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing) Records, 1982-1994
- UE Local 610, campaign to Save Union Switch and Signal Swissvale, Pa.
- Union Switch and Signal Collection; see Robert Jurich Scrapbooks
Individual Collections
- Robert Anderson(with Rainbow Kitchen Collection)
- Darrell Becker (with IUMSWA Local 61 Collection)
- Evelyn O. Darin Collection, 1910-1977
- Norbert Fleckenstein Collection,1912-1986
- Steffi Domike Collection, 1980-1985
- William Feeney Collection
- William Frederick Collection
- Charles Gomrick Collection
- Betty Jones Collection
- Robert ("Joe") Jurich Scrapbook Collection, (1929-1995)
- Gaston LeBlanc Collection, 1911-1971 (with Allied Stone Workers)
- Charles J. McCollester Collection
- Thomas Quinn Collection, 1947-1952
- Joni Rabinowitz Social Service Unionism Collection
- Hyman Richman Collection
- Harold Ruthenberg Collection
- Ronald Schatz Interviews
- Hymen Schlesinger Collection, 1940-1960
- Margaret Darin Stasik Collection, 1936-1945
- M. Y. Steinberg Collection
Related Collections: Archives of Industrial Society
- Heber Blankenhorn Collection, journalist, editor, co-director of the Bureau of Industrial Research , 1919-1939
- James R. Cox Collection, Pittsburgh Catholic priest active in politics and labor, 1904-1950
- Charles Owen Rice Collection, Pittsburgh Catholic priest active in political, social, and labor affairs, 1935-
Visual Images
- UE News Photograph Archives (see above)
- UE News (Chicago) Photograph Archives
- UE Education Department. Film Archives.
- UE: Fred Wright Cartoon Collection (see above)
- Teresa Chalich Collection, (photos, slides) (Rainbow Kitchen, Homestead, 1980's)
- Harry Coughenaur Collection (photos) (Denominational Ministry Strategy)
- Steffi Domike Collection, (film, photos, slides)
- "Labor's Corner"
- Lawrence Evans Collection (film) (Pittsburgh) (Donetsk, U.S.S.R.)
- Richard Fishkin Collection (film) (Peace TV)
- William J. Gaughan Collection (photos, film, slides) (U.S.Steel)
- Francis Shane Collection, (Steelworkers Civil Rights Committee)
- U.S. Steel Collection (Duquesne and National Works) (photos, film, slides)
Sound Recordings and Oral Histories
- African American Jazz Preservation Society of Pittsburgh (AAJPSP) Oral History Project
- Robert Anderson Oral History Project
- Beaver Valley Labor History Society Oral History Project
- Electrical Workers in Western Pennsylvania Oral History Project
- UE Education Department. Radio Broadcasts and other sound recordings.
Moving Picture Resources
James Dolsen Collection, 6 VHS cassettes, 1984-1993
Video footage of Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing, March 1993 and miscellaneous videos about labor issues.
Steffie Domike Papers, 286 Video cassettes, various formats, 1976-1991
Film footage for Women of Steel and The River Ran Red documentaries.
Lawrence Evans Labor Film, 117 Umatic and VHS cassettes, c1982-c1988
Video series about labor history and labor issues in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Series include Steel Valley Stories, Our Own Show, and videotaped oral histories of steel workers.
Labor's Corner Videotapes, 33 Beta cassettes and other formats, c1984-1988
Pittsburgh television series about national and local labor issues.
Peace TV, 115 Umatic and VHS cassettes, 1998-1990
Alternative television series produced by Richard Fishkin providing non-commercial supported commentary on the military/industrial complex, consumerism, military funding of Carnegie Mellon University, and environmental issues.
Pittsburgh Musicians Union, 33 motion picture films, 1945-1963
Film footage of Musician Union's Christmas parties, picnics, and other festivities.
Rainbow Kitchen and Anderson Tapes, 17 VHS cassettes, 1984-1989
Miscellaneous videos relating to labor issues primarily in Southwest, PA during the mid to late 1980s.
Soviet Miners and Steel Workers Documentary Projects, 86 Umatic cassettes, 1989
A Lawrence Evans documentary about Soviet workers.
United Electrical Workers Miscellaneous Film, 111 motion picture reels, 1941-1970
A collection of UE produced films and animation, news footage about UE, and footage of UE conventions.
USX National Works Videos, 16 Umatic cassettes and other formats
Training videos for machine operators and management.
Fred Wright Labor Cartoons, 7 VHS cassettes and Umatic
Primarily a collection Fred Wright's (UE cartoonist) animated motion pictures transferred to videotape.
Links:
Archives Service CenterArchives of Industrial Society Collections and Research Guides