Title: Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employees, Lodge No. 139 Records
Inclusive Dates: 1907-1951

Creator:

• Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employes, Lodge No. 139 (La Crosse, Wis.)

Call Number: La Crosse Mss AS

Quantity: 0.8 cubic feet (2 archives boxes including 13 volumes)

Repository:

Housed at the Special Collections & Area Research Center, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records consisting of minutes, 1907-1914; membership records, 1907-1927; financial records, 1918-1951; and a 1912 ritual book.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00as

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The Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employees was founded on December 29, 1899 in Sedalia, Missouri. J. F. Riley and R. E. Fisher, both working for the Missouri Pacific Railway, were the organizers of the parent body, known as the “Order of Railroad Clerks of America.” Under their direction the organization turned into a national body, by recruiting members from other cities to form local lodges. The order affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1900, only to withdraw in 1901 to avoid the burden of the Federation's per capita tax.

A convention held in 1904, brought objections to the organization's name by members from Canada and Mexico, and the name was changed to the "Brotherhood of Railway Clerks." At the convention held in 1919 the name was later changed to its present designation to reflect its enlarged jurisdictional claims.

The Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employees, Lodge No. 139, La Crosse, Wisconsin held its organizational meeting on April 24, 1907 at the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Freight Office in La Crosse. On June 11, 1907 it received a charter from the Grand Lodge in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time the charter was granted there were 48 members of Local No. 139. The first president of the local was F. 0. Chamberlain.

For additional background information see: Harry Henig, The Brotherhood of Railway Clerks (New York, 1937); and Denton Nixson, History of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1965).

The records of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employees, Lodge No. 139, La Crosse, 1907-1951, consist of Minutes of Regular meetings, Treasurer's Cash Books, Cash Receipt Books, Membership Records, and a Ritual Book published by the Brotherhood in 1912. They are arranged chronologically under each heading.

Minutes of Regular Meetings, 1907-1914, provides the most useful source for the lodge's history in its first years. They include information about organizing the lodge and its committees, approaches for contacting potential new lodge members, and the question of affiliation with the American Federation of Labor.

Treasurer's Cash Books, 1921-1951, list the receipts and disbursements of Lodge No. 139. The receipt portion includes the date, and from whom received while disbursements record date, to whom disbursed, and amount of expenditure.

Cash Receipt Books, 1918-1948, primarily record receipts obtained by local 139 from dues collected from the members. There are a few entries for funds raised through parties and other social functions in which the lodge participated. The date, name of person paying dues, the amount of payment, and amount of bank deposits are among the information recorded. The “Membership Records,” 1907-1914, also contains financial records in the beginning and end of the volume.

Membership Records, 1907-1927, contain the name and address of member, the railroad system for which he worked, the date when first initiated, and a detailed listing of dues paid, initiation fees, special assessments and dates of payments.

The Ritual Book, 1912, contains the procedure required by the Grand Lodge, for the local lodges' opening ceremonies, initiations of new members, officer's installation ceremonies, and funeral ceremonies. This volume documents the formalized, secretive, and ritualistic manner in which lodges conducted their meetings, especially typical of early labor organizations.

A major weakness of the collection is the gap in many series.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John Erickson, La Crosse, Wisconsin, February 11, 1975. Accession Number: M75-124

Processing Information

Processed by J. Pfeil and John Fleckner, May 12, 1977.

La Crosse Mss AS Box   1 Folder   1	Minutes of regular meetings, 1907-1914
	Treasurer's cash books
Box   1 Folder   2	1921-1929
Box   1 Folder   2	1929-1939
Box   1 Folder   2	1939-1951
	Cash receipt books
Box   1 Folder   3	1918-1921
Box   1 Folder   3	1921-1928
Box   1 Folder   4	1935-1944
Box   1 Folder   4	1944-1948
	Membership records
Box   2 Folder   1	1907-1914
Box   2 Folder   2	1918-1925
Box   2 Folder   3	1918-1927
Box   2 Folder   4	Ritual book, 1912