Title: United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers International Union. Local 50: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1934-1968

Creator:

• United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers International Union. Local 50 (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 194; PH Milwaukee Mss 194

Quantity: 2.6 c.f. (5 archives boxes, 3 card boxes, 1 flat box) and 9 photographs

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

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

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records, mainly 1934-1956, of a Milwaukee local that represented employees of the Slocum Hat Company, many of whom were women. The local was formed in 1934 as Local 51 and re-chartered in 1936 as Local 50. Included are minutes; agreements; correspondence with employers, Alex Rose and other officers of the International Union, local members, and officials of the National Labor Relations Board and the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board; membership applications and cards; and documents concerning a 1942 arbitration and strikes during the 1930s and the 1950s. In addition, the collection includes a set of index cards that refer to an attempt to organize the employees of the Reliable Knitting Company in 1968. A few photographs document strikes and general union activities.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00194

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Local 50 of the United Hatters union dates to 1934, the same year in which the International itself was formed by the amalgamation of United Hatters of North America and the Cloth Hat, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union. The records are of interest because they are the only records of a Wisconsin local of the United Hatters union and because they are one of only a few such collections in archival hands anywhere. The collection also is of special interest because the local represented a large number of women, and more particularly because many members were older women. Although the collection is by no means complete, it provides multiple perspectives for examining the role of women in organized labor in Milwaukee. Demographic information about individual members such as age, hourly wage, address, employment and union membership history can be found in applications, several sets of index cards, and wage rate files. Occasional correspondence filed with the applications dating from the 1930s and 1940s is also useful for this purpose. In addition, several officers of this local were women. The leadership of Rose Maier, who was business agent during the 1950s, is represented in correspondence with Alex Rose, the secretary of the International Union, and with officers of the Slocum Company, as well as in the minutes. The minutes also provide good discussions of the members' participation in a strike during the Depression.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Darryl Holter, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1989. Accession Number: M89-081

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, May 15, 2002.

Milwaukee Mss 194 Box   1 Folder   1	By-laws, 1937
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   2	Local 51, 1934-1936
Box   6 Folder   1-4	Local 50, 1937-1956
	Agreements
Box   1 Folder   3	Local 50, 1937-1952
Box   1 Folder   4	Local 51 and other locals, 1934-1942
	Applications and member correspondence, 1935-1958
Box   2 Folder   1-6	A-R
Box   3 Folder   1-2	R, continued -Z
Box   3 Folder   3-4	Unsorted applications of various dates
Box   3 Folder   5	Audits, 1943-1953
Box   3 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1950s
Box   3 Folder   7	Correspondence, Secretary's notebook, circa 1950-1951
Box   3 Folder   8	Everett & Graf bankruptcy, 1934-1936
	International Union
Box   3 Folder   9	Auditor's correspondence, 1950-1953
Box   3 Folder   6-7	Correspondence, 1946-1956
Box   4 Folder   1	Form letters from the International
	Membership cards
Box   7	Alphabetical index (circa 1930s), Local 51?
Box   8	Ledger number index (circa 1950s), Local 50, and alphabetical employment history cards
Box   4 Folder   2	Miscellany
Box   4 Folder   3	Monthly financial statements, 1953-1956
Box   4 Folder   4	National Straw Company
	Photographs
PH Milwaukee Mss 194	Original Photographs
Milwaukee Mss 194 Box   4 Folder   4A	Photocopies
Box   4 Folder   9	Reliable Knitting recruiting index, 1968
	Slocum
Box   4 Folder   8	Arbitration, 1942
Box   4 Folder   9	Correspondence, 1948-1953
Box   4 Folder   10	Financial statements
Box   4 Folder   11	Special assessments
Box   4 Folder   5	Tax exempt forms
Box   5 Folder   1	United States Department of Labor
Box   5 Folder   2	United States National Labor Relations Board
Box   5 Folder   3	Wage rates for individual members, 1945-1950
Box   5 Folder   4	Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, 1948-1954
Box   5 Folder   5	Wisconsin Industrial Commission, 1950-1951