The records of Lodge No. 168 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, are organized in four series: General Correspondence, Subject Files, Financial Records, and Printed Materials.
The General Correspondence, 1927-1968, includes printed announcements, circulars and reports; and mimeographed circulars, reports, copies of agreements, financial statements, and memoranda. The file is arranged in chronological order. Most of the materials date 1930-1940 and came from or were sent to the national secretary in Cleveland or to the La Crosse local. The correspondence covers a variety of topics, including federal railroad legislation; diesel locomotion; endorsement of state and national political candidates; union membership drives; readmission of expelled members; general grievances of workers; “benevolent fund” allowances; changes in the Brotherhood constitution; Supreme Court vacancies; Office of Price Administration (OPA) regulations; war bonds; the King-Anderson bill (1962); and amalgamation with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
The Subject Files, 1929-1968, mainly 1930-1941, consist of correspondence, printed and mimeographed memoranda, circulars, and other materials arranged alphabetically by subject. These subjects include: lobbying activities of the Brotherhood's State Legislative Board; planning a state meeting of state lodges; complaints about pay and working conditions filed by lodge members with the General Grievance Committee of the Brotherhood; hiring non-union labor in La Crosse; claims by union members against the Benevolent Fund of the Brotherhood; OPA regulations; requests made to the local secretary for permission to postpone payment of dues or to withdraw from the local completely because of the depression; and a dispute in the La Crosse lodge over the reduction of the lodge chairman's salary.
The Financial Records consist of “Monthly to Assessment Bills” for 1943 and 1944 sent to the La Crosse secretary by the General Secretary of the Brotherhood. The financial information on the forms (such as aggregate lodge payments for dues, insurance, and various Brotherhood programs) was compiled by the local secretary and a copy returned to the Cleveland headquarters. Attached to the “Monthly Assessment Bills” is an alphabetical list of members of the lodge and the amount each was assessed.
Several types of records are found among the Printed Materials, 1934-1968. The Quarterly Reports of the General Chairman for the Burlington System cover the years 1934-1968. They include reports on conferences and local lodge meetings attended by the general chairman; lists of cases, generally claims of individuals or locals; and miscellaneous items including new regulations, rules, reports on special meetings and news of interest to local members. (The claims are arranged by the number of the local initiating the claim. Later reports include disciplinary action taken against individuals.)
Monthly Bulletins of the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, 1941, 1942, 1951, 1968, encompass a variety of news items, including interpretations of provisions and changes in the union's constitution, organizing efforts of the Brotherhood, efforts to merge with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, passenger trains, efforts to increase wages, relocation of lodge charters, the union's health, welfare, insurance, and education programs, and matters before the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The Circular Letters of the General Chairman of the Burlington System to local chairmen and other local officials are arranged chronologically by year end thereunder by circular number. The circulars generally contain very specific information about subjects such as progress in negotiations and agreements reached between national companies and the union. Others include notices of meetings of the General Grievance Committee and of claims brought before it.
The Official Circular Letters of the Grand Lodge cover the years 1939-1967. This correspondence between the international president and local lodge officers include information about international conventions held every four years, the establishment of local legislative and education committees, valuation reports of the Beneficiary Department and dividend notices, and amendments to the constitution. They are arranged chronologically.
The Minutes of the General Grievance Committee, 1937-1968, report on frequent regular and special meetings. Each report lists the general chairmen of the lodges and their lodge numbers. Other information includes statements of cash receipts and disbursements, lists of property of the Committee, proposals from various lodges with responses by the Executive Committee, memoranda of agreements between railroad companies and the union, and a summary of work performed for the benefit of the committee.
The collection has several weaknesses. There is relatively little, for example, for the years following World War II and while the general correspondence is far ranging, there is little depth on any topic. There is virtually no coverage of important national events and issues. The researcher will not find material on communism, the Taft-Hartley Act, the constitutionality of the Railroad Retirement Act, or industry reorganization. There is some material on diesel locomotion and the question of amalgamation with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, but this material is fragmentary.
