Title: AFL-CIO. Committee on Political Education: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1946-1959, 1972

Creator:

• AFL-CIO. Committee on Political Education

Call Number: U.S. Mss 120A; Audio 1494A

Quantity: 6.4 c.f. (16 archives boxes) and 3 tape recordings

Repository:

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.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of the Committee on Political Education (COPE), the AFL-CIO agency formed to enunciate policy on political issues, and to analyze the records and qualifications of political candidates. Also includes files of COPE's two predecessors, Labor's League for Political Education of the AFL, and the CIO's Political Action Committee. Includes correspondence, reports, lists, newspaper clippings, and other printed material concerning congressional elections, arranged by state, 1948-1954; and clippings and reports concerning Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, 1946-1957. The tape recordings consist of COPE reports (May-July, 1972).

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us00120a

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A merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations took place in 1955, and the new organization became known as the AFL-CIO. Prior to the merger of the two big unions each had a political committee. They were the Political Action Committee (PAC) of the C.I.O., and the Labor League for Political Education (LLPE) as the A.F.L. counterpart. These papers relate to the Committee on Political Education (COPE), formed after the merger.

The purpose of COPE is to state the position of Labor on political issues, to analyze the records and qualifications of candidates from the stand-point of Labor, and to get out the vote.

The papers are organized in three series. File A is a miscellaneous file containing correspondence, reports, lists, printed material, and newspaper articles relating to local Congressional elections. The approximate period is from the late 1940s to the middle 1950s. File B, 1946-1957, deals exclusively with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. The material is mostly printed matter, newspaper clippings, various reports and records kept by LLPE, PAC, and COPE, covering the period McCarthy spent as United States Senator from Wisconsin. File A and File B are each numbered Box 1 through 8 so users should specify the series as well as the box number when requesting materials. The tape recordings consist of COPE reports (May-July, 1972).

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Committee on Political Education of the AFL-CIO, April 26, 1960, through Mrs. Mary G. Zahn, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Mss 120A	Series: File A, 1940s-1950s
Box   1	Alaska
Box   1	Alabama, 1954
Box   1	Alabama-Miscellaneous
Box   1	Arizona, 1954
Box   1	Arizona-Miscellaneous
Box   1	California, 1954
Box   1	California-Miscellaneous
Box   1	Colorado, 1954
Box   1	Colorado-Miscellaneous
Box   1	Connecticut, 1954
Box   1	Connecticut-Miscellaneous
Box   1	Delaware, 1954
Box   1	Delaware-Miscellaneous
Box   1	District of Columbia, 1954
Box   1	District of Columbia-Miscellaneous
	Florida
Box   2	1950
Box   2	1954
Box   2	Miscellaneous
Box   2	Georgia, 1954
Box   2	Georgia-Miscellaneous
Box   2	Idaho-Miscellaneous
Box   2	Illinois, 1954
Box   3	Illinois-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Indiana, 1954
Box   3	Indiana-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Iowa, 1954
Box   3	Iowa-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Kansas, 1954
Box   3	Kansas-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Kentucky, 1954
Box   3	Kentucky-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Louisiana, 1954
Box   3	Louisiana-Miscellaneous
Box   3	Maine, 1954
Box   3	Maine-Miscellaneous
Box   4	Maryland, 1954
Box   4	Maryland-Miscellaneous
Box   4	Massachusetts, 1954
Box   4	Massachusetts-Miscellaneous
Box   4	Michigan, 1954
Box   4	Michigan-Miscellaneous
Box   4	Minnesota, 1954
Box   4	Minnesota-Miscellaneous
Box   5	Mississippi, 1954
Box   5	Mississippi-Miscellaneous
Box   5	Missouri, 1954
Box   5	Missouri-Miscellaneous
Box   5	Montana, 1954
Box   5	Montana-Miscellaneous
Box   5	Nebraska, 1954
Box   5	Nebraska-Miscellaneous
Box   5	Nevada, 1954
Box   5	Nevada-Miscellaneous
Box   5	New Hampshire, 1954
Box   5	New Hampshire-Miscellaneous
Box   5	New Jersey, 1954
Box   5	New Jersey-Miscellaneous
Box   5	New Mexico, 1954
Box   5	New Mexico-Miscellaneous
Box   6	New York, 1954
Box   6	New York-Miscellaneous
Box   6	North Carolina, 1954
Box   6	North Carolina-Miscellaneous
Box   6	North Dakota, 1954
Box   6	North Dakota-Miscellaneous
	Ohio
Box   6	1954
Box   6	Miscellaneous
Box   6	Joseph T. Ferguson
Box   6	Oklahoma-Miscellaneous
Box   6	Oregon, 1954
Box   6	Oregon-Miscellaneous
Box   7	Pennsylvania, 1954
Box   7	Pennsylvania-Miscellaneous
Box   7	Rhode Island, 1954
Box   7	Rhode Island-Miscellaneous
Box   7	South Carolina, 1954
Box   7	South Carolina-Miscellaneous
Box   7	South Dakota, 1954
Box   7	South Dakota-Miscellaneous
Box   7	Tennessee, 1954
Box   7	Tennessee-Miscellaneous
Box   7	Texas, 1954
Box   7	Texas-Miscellaneous
Box   7	Utah, 1954
Box   7	Virginia-Miscellaneous
	Wisconsin
Box   8	1954
Box   8	Alvin E. Okonski
Box   8	Correspondence
Box   8	Miscellaneous
Box   8	Wyoming, 1954
Box   8	Wyoming-Miscellaneous
Box   8	COPE reports on 1958-1959 state and local elections
	Series: File B, 1946-1957	⇧
Box   1	Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) articles on McCarthy
Box   1	McCarthy, general, 1951-1956
	McCarthy and the Army
Box   2 Folder   1	1954-1956
Box   2 Folder   2	Zwicker, Cohn, Stephens, Adams, and Schine
Box   2 Folder   3	McCarthy Committee
Box   2 Folder   4	McCarthy and the Malmedy Massacre
Box   2 Folder   5	McCarthy and Drew Pearson
Box   3 Folder   1	McCarthy and Criticism by Clergy
Box   3 Folder   2	McCarthy, Speeches and Comments, News and Radio Speeches
Box   4 Folder   1	McCarthy Committee Staff
Box   4 Folder   2	Wisconsin Supreme Court Briefs
Box   4 Folder   3	McCarthy, LLPE material
Box   4 Folder   4	McCarthy, PAC material
Box   4 Folder   5	PAC records on McCarthy's votes in Congress
Box   4 Folder   6	Editorial Comment on McCarthy
Box   5 Folder   1	Senate Hearings on McCarthy Censure
Box   5 Folder   2	Congressional Records-Selected pages showing McCarthy's activities in the Senate
	McCarthy
Box   6 Folder   1	1946-1950
Box   6 Folder   2	1951
Box   7 Folder   1	Investigations of Senators Joseph R. McCarthy and William Benton, Committee Report
	McCarthy
Box   7 Folder   2	1952
Box   7 Folder   3	1953
Box   8 Folder   1	1954
Box   8 Folder   2	1955
Box   8 Folder   3	1956
	Series: Tape Recordings	⇧
	COPE Reports
1494A/1	May 1972 Scope and Content Note: AFL-CIO president George Meany on compulsory arbitration and President Nixon; John Perkins on voter registration.
1494A/2	June 1972 Scope and Content Note: George Meany on AFL-CIO Platform proposals.
1494A/3	July 1972 Scope and Content Note: George Meany on controls.