Summary Information
La Crosse Labor Temple Association Records
1921-1983
- La Crosse Labor Temple Association (Wis.)
La Crosse Mss CI
2.4 cubic feet (5 archives boxes and 1 flat box)
UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Records of a La Crosse, Wisconsin, corporation formed for the purpose of providing office, meeting, and social space for local labor organizations. The collection consists of various administrative records including corporate record books and minutes; correspondence; stockholder records; blueprints, property appraisals, and a building specifications book (1979); general materials relating to the organization's facilities and local union use and rental of them; financial reports; receipts and disbursements books which include the Treasurer's annual reports; materials relating to the operation of the A.F.L. Club, a tavern which operated within the building; and miscellaneous materials.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00ci ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The La Crosse Labor Temple Association was formed in 1921 as a profit-making corporation intended to provide building space for La Crosse's labor unions to use for administrative, meeting, and social purposes. Capital shares were issued with the intent that stockholders would receive regular dividends on their investment. This enabled the purchase of “Yeoman Hall” from Ernest Schultz in 1921.
Yeoman Hall already had its own place in La Crosse labor history as it had been built in 1890 by the Norwegian Workingmen's Society of La Crosse. The Scandia Hall Association took over the building a year later and sold it to the Y.M.C.A. in 1894. Schultz bought the building in 1909 and leased the second floor to the Brotherhood of American Yeoman. The building, which came to be known as the King Street Labor Temple, was not able to be fully occupied by the Labor Temple Association until 1925 when all existent leases had expired.
In an effort to bring more capital into the venture, a resolution was brought forward and passed in 1923 calling for the La Crosse Trades and Labor Council to make the purchase of at least one share of the association's stock compulsory for every individual belonging to a local union. By 1929, 21 unions as well as the La Crosse Building Trades Council and Trade and Labor Council held stock in the association. In 1943, the corporation was reincorporated to nonprofit status.
The association funded major building renovations to its King Street facility in 1955. A sleek, modernized exterior replaced the ornamental towers and gingerbread trimming which bespoke of the building's 1890s construction. Signage identifying the building as the A.F.L. Labor Temple was also installed.
During 1979 and 1980, the association purchased, remodeled, and moved to a building located on Ward Avenue in La Crosse with the plan to quickly sell the King Street building. However, the King Street building did not sell for quite some time and the association was unable to meet its financial commitments. Ownership of the Ward Street building was assumed by Jim Baus in 1983 and it is likely the association became inactive at that time.
The association also operated a tavern within its facilities called the A.F.L. Club.
Scope and Content Note
The records consist of four series: ADMINISTRATIVE, A.F.L. CLUB, BUILDING FACILITIES, and FINANCIAL.
The ADMINISTRATIVE series, 1921-1983, does not provide a complete overview of the administration of the association although the meeting minutes are nearly complete. There is very little correspondence and records contained within the administrative file are scattered in date. The series does contain early records detailing individual stockholders and member unions, and lists identifying Board officers throughout much of the association's history. There is also a 1959 publication of the La Crosse A.F.L.-C.I.O. Council which contains some information about the association. Scattered records (1925-1927) relate to building social activities.
A.F.L. CLUB records, 1950-1977, concern a tavern operated within the labor temple building by a bar manager who was accountable to the Board of Directors. These records include documents, 1950-1977, which identify recurrent problems in bar operation, finances, and management; and inventories of liquor stock for 1973 and 1974. Researchers are also referred to the FINANCIAL series for additional information on the A.F.L. Club.
BUILDING FACILITIES, 1932-1979, include documents relating to both the King Street and Ward Avenue buildings including blueprints, property appraisals, and documents relating to needed building repairs and changes for the King Street facility; and a building specifications book, 1979, for the Ward Street building. Also included are facility rental books, 1966-1974, and papers, 1943-1972, which provide information about building use by local unions as well as rental charges and use policies.
FINANCIAL, 1929-1982, includes fairly complete annual, monthly, and quarterly financial reports detailing receipts and disbursements for both the association and the A.F.L. Club for the period 1929 to 1982. There are also income tax reports between 1933 and 1969.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Ed Hill, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1988. Materials were added which were transferred from the La Crosse Trades and Labor Council collection. Accession Number: M88-042, M82-247
Processed by Gayle Martinson, June 1997.
Contents List
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La Crosse Mss CI
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Series: Administrative
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Administrative file, 1955-1982
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Board of Directors, 1924-1983
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Correspondence, 1925, 1960-1978
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Box
1
Folder
4
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La Crosse Labor Leader, La Crosse A.F.L.-C.I.O. Council, 1959
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Minutes
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Corporate record books
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Box
1
Folder
5
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1921-1945
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Box
1
Folder
6
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1954-1963
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Box
1
Folder
7
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1963-1965
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Box
1
Folder
8
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1966-1967
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Box
1
Folder
9
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1970-1972
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1973-1983
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Stockholders [member unions], 1929-1933
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Temple activities, 1925-1927
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Series: A.F.L. Club
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Box
2
Folder
4
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General, 1950-1977
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Inventory, 1973-1974
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Series: Building Facilities
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Blueprints, 1945-1946, undated
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Building facilities materials, 1932-1976
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Building specifications book, 1979
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Facility rental, 1943-1972
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Box
6
Folder
1
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Facility rental account book, 1966-1974
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Facility rental book, 1972-1977
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Property appraisal, 1972
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Property appraisal revaluation reports, 1974-1976
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Series: Financial
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Annual financial reports
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Box
3
Folder
1
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1930-1937
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Box
3
Folder
2
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1960-1982
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Income tax returns, 1933-1969
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Receipts and disbursements book
: Includes Treasurer's annual reports, 1934-1946.
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Box
3
Folder
4
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1929-1933
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Box
3
Folder
5
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1934-1937
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Box
3
Folder
6
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1934-1943
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Box
4
Folder
1
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1944-1947
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Box
4
Folder
2
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1948-1952
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Box
5
Folder
1
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1953-1958
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Box
5
Folder
2
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1959-1964
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