The ICA Records are arranged as ADMINISTRATIVE AND INTERNAL RECORDS, PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, and CLIENT FILES.
The records of the Industrial Cooperative Association Inc. document its activities from 1972 through 1992. The provenance of the ICA files at the Historical Society is uncertain, and it is likely that the files represent, at least in part, Frank Adams' responsibilities and tenure with ICA. It is also known that some of the files eventually received by the Historical Society were personally selected by him for deposit in 1988 when ICA was discarding some old records. This history may explain why the majority of the records held by SHSW date from after 1985, the year in which Adams became a member of ICA, and why there is such incomplete information in the collection about the formation and early period of ICA's history. Even after 1985, however, the records do not appear complete.
When using the collection, the researcher should also consult the Frank Adams Papers, which are also housed at the State Historical Society. (The Adams Papers are restricted until May 19, 2034, except with the donor's written permission.) These papers contain additional information on Adams' personal involvement with worker cooperatives.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS are subdivided into governance and administration files. The governance files consist of the by-laws, staff and board member lists, and minutes of board and staff meetings. Although the minutes of the board of directors date only from the years 1983 and after, they are of remarkably high quality, containing useful information on the matters brought before the board. These discussions appear, however, to have focused more on internal administrative matters and funding rather than on the companies with which ICA was involved. Memoranda, financial statements, and reports are sometimes attached to the board minutes. The staff meeting minutes are similarly incomplete and even less useful, as the documentation often consists of fragmentary, handwritten notes. Again, financial statements and other material distributed to the staff as a whole are sometimes attached. Also included with the governance files are minutes of what was known as staff informational meetings.
The Administration files are an alphabetical subject file containing memoranda, correspondence, financial statements and reports, information on various ICA committees, internal planning documents, and some records about the Revolving Loan Fund. Of special interest is one file entitled NEWCoop which contains minutes of the New England Workers Cooperative Association, an organization which is thought to have been involved in the formation of ICA, as both Dawson and Ellerson are noted as board members. Also of interest are the records of the Revolving Loan Fund (mainly 1981-1983) which document the process of establishing and administering the RLF during its early years.
The PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS series probably derives from Adams' responsibilities as director of education. Included are several files of correspondence concerning the development of publishing projects as well as a chronologically-arranged file of reports issued by ICA and by individuals associated with ICA. The 1982 files contain several ICA publications (and background research) on the cooperative network in Mondragon, Spain, which served as a model for much of ICA's work. Also of special interest is ICA's Model By-laws for Worker-Owned Businesses, its 1991 national directory of worker-owned businesses, and an undated recording produced by Pacifica-New York about worker cooperatives in Milwaukee, North Carolina, and Philadelphia, some of which worked with ICA. The ICA Bulletin, which was edited by Adams, is available in the Historical Society Library.
CORRESPONDENCE contains files that are both internal and general in nature. The internal files consist largely of chronologically-arranged staff memoranda which begin in 1983. The general correspondence is subdivided into routine requests for information and more useful, alphabetically-arranged correspondence with several organizations and individuals (such as Helen Snow) that shared goals and purposes similar to ICA.
CLIENT FILES, which comprise the largest part of the collection, are arranged alphabetically by company name. These companies represent a wide-range of firms that were assisted by ICA, some of which were successful and some of which were not. Because the degree of ICA involvement with each company varied the documentation present is similarly varied and may include research material and articles about the company, agreements, background information, correspondence, market surveys, financial statements, and business plans. Especially well documented are the Colonial Cooperative Press, International Poultry, Moose Creek Restoration, O&O Market, Our Market, Seymour Specialty Wire Company, and Workers Owned Sewing Company. The Seymour Specialty Wire Company files include documentation on the development of its unique Workers Solving Problems program.
