Title: American Federation of Teachers. Local 35: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1944-1965, 1972

Creator:

• American Federation of Teachers. Local 35 (Madison, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 217; Tape 619A

Quantity: 0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 2 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Records of AFT Local 35, Madison, Wisconsin, a local labor union open to all public school teachers in the City of Madison. Never a large group, the local lost its influence when it lost a 1964 bargaining agent election. The records are fragmentary but include a constitution, minutes, newsletters, correspondence, and a file of information on salaries, insurance, membership, and the 1964 election. Also included is a taped interview with past president Garrison Lincoln describing the local's accomplishments.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00217

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The American Federation of Teachers was founded and became affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1916. That same year it granted a charter to Local #35, Madison, Wisconsin. Membership was open to all public school teachers in the City of Madison; a high of just over 100 members was reached in the mid 1950's. The local was concerned mainly with immediate problems and issues in the Madison schools, though it maintained ties with the general labor movement by belonging to the Madison Federation of Labor.

In a 1972 oral history interview, Garrison Lincoln, a past president of Local #35, described three major accomplishments of the union since 1950. He felt the greatest accomplishment was the 1958 implementation of the John Guy Foulkes report which recommended major salary increases and an end to the City Council's practice of setting the budget's salary totals. Implementation was accomplished when Local #35 gained endorsement of the report from the Madison Federation of Labor.

A second major accomplishment occurred in 1953 when Local #35 negotiated a group health insurance policy for its members. The result was a membership rise and increased recognition of the local as an organization capable of action.

The third accomplishment involved a ruling by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board. Myron Cook, a teacher in Waunakee, was fired in 1963; he contended that the reason for his dismissal was his refusal to join the Wisconsin Education Association and his membership in Local #35. Local #35 and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers protested his case to the State Industrial Commission. Though the hearing board ruled against Cook, it also ruled that a school could not require WEA membership of its teachers, the first such decision in the state of Wisconsin.

At this writing [1972], Local #35 is practically non-existent as the result of the 1964 election of the Madison Education Association as exclusive bargaining agent for Madison teachers.

The records of Local #35 of the American Federation of Teachers consist of a constitution, general correspondence, minutes and agenda, scattered newsletters, per capita reports, a treasurer's book, and a subject file containing mimeographed materials from the American and Wisconsin Federations of Teachers, plus information on insurance, salaries, membership, and the 1964 bargaining agent election. The records date 1944-1965 and are organized by type of document. Most of the files are fragmentary, but they include information on each of the three accomplishments mentioned above.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Garrison L. Lincoln, Madison, Wisconsin, November 1, 1971 and January 11 and 15, 1972. Accession Number: M71-305, M72-6, M72-14

Processing Information

Processed by 1972 Archives Students and Karen Baumann, September 9, 1972.

Mss 217 Box   1 Folder   1	Constitution, 1964
Box   1 Folder   2	General Correspondence, 1954-1964
Tape 619A No.   1-2	Interview with Garrison Lincoln, 1972
Mss 217 Box   1 Folder   3	Minutes, 1949-1961, and Agenda, , 1963-1964
Box   1 Folder   4	Newsletters, 1954-1965
Box   1 Folder   5	Per Capita Reports, 1952-1960
Box   1 Folder   6	Treasurer's Book, 1946-1957
	Subject File Note: See the General Correspondence and the Minutes for additional information on these subjects.
	American Federation of Teachers
Box   1 Folder   7-8	Form Letters and Reports, 1954, 1958-1965
Box   1 Folder   9	Convention Materials, 1963-1964
Box   1 Folder   10	Insurance Information, 1960-1964
Box   1 Folder   11	Policy Handbooks, 1956, 1957, 1962
Box   2 Folder   1	Bargaining Agent Election, 1964
Box   2 Folder   2	Insurance, 1954-1963
Box   2 Folder   3	Madison Education Association, 1960-1964
Box   2 Folder   4	Madison Federation of Labor, 1960, 1963-1964
Box   2 Folder   5	Membership, 1952, 1957; 1962, 1964, undated
Box   2 Folder   6	Salary Schedules, 1955-1964
Box   2 Folder   7	Social Security and Retirement, 1954, 1957, 1963
	Wisconsin Federation of Teachers
Box   2 Folder   8	Constitutions, Reports, Form Letters, 1944, 1953, 1960-1964
Box   2 Folder   9	Convention Materials, 1960-1964