In 1951-52 the Rockefeller Foundation and the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor cooperated with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in the collection and preservation of historical records relating to the labor movement in Wisconsin. While the project resulted in the preservation of much important material, the records uncovered in the early 1950's consisted of documentation relating primarily to craft union organizations. Neither the State Historical Society of Wisconsin nor any other repository launched a sustained effort after the 1958 merger of the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor and the Wisconsin State Industrial Union Council to locate and preserve records created during the turbulent period of industrial union organizing following passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) in 1933 with its significant Section 7(a).
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1980 requested Rockefeller Foundation assistance to begin documenting the activities of industrial unions in Wisconsin since the 1930's. In late 1980 the Rockefeller Foundation granted to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin $25,000 to support the first twelve months of a project to collect personal correspondence and oral remembrances of individuals involved in industrial union organizing; and to learn the locations of labor union records.
