The records of the International Workingmen's Association, covering the years 1868-1877, are available both in paper form and as a microfilm publication. They are divided into series corresponding to the main units of its organizational hierarchy:
- I. Records of the General Council, 1871-1874.
- II. Records of the Central Committee, North American Federal Council, 1868-1877.
- III. Records of Section 26 (Philadelphia), 1871-1876.
- IV. Records of Section 1 (St. Louis), 1870-1877.
Since the type of material, depth of documentation, and time covered vary considerably, each series is described separately below. However, the researcher is cautioned that the divisions are not mutually exclusive. There is, for example, much information on the North American Federal Council in the records of the two local sections and information on the General Council in the records of the federal council.
I. Records of the General Council, 1871-1874
The General Council was the governing body of the International Workingmen's Association. From its organization in 1864 until 1872 the Council met in London, exercising its authority through a system of secretaries under the leadership of Karl Marx, who made it a clearinghouse for the propagation of the socialist movement. In 1872, hoping to escape the unfavorable political climate of Europe, the International moved its headquarters to New York. The records of the General Council in this collection consist almost entirely of papers from the American period.
Correspondence, 1872-1874
This section contains a handwritten copy of the letterbook of the General Council, 1872-1874, written by Friedrich Sorge, general secretary of the International. The letters are addressed to the remaining European federal councils, and, as the General Council gradually absorbed the function of the North American Federal Council, to local sections in the United States. The main topics are Friedrich Engel's financial responsibility for the International and the progressively independent behavior of the Jurassian (Swiss), Italian, and Spanish federal councils. Only one letter, dated December 30, 1872, is addressed to Marx.
Preceding the letterbook is a typescript calendar, apparently prepared by the American Bureau of Industrial Research. The bureau also prepared the two sections of typed extracts from the letterbook filmed in this section. The first consists of letters originally written in French and English, the second of those in German.
Convention Material, 1871
This section contains the circular issued by the General Council on the rules and proceedings of the September, 1871, conference in London. Unfortunately the collection contains no information relating directly to either The Hague conference of September, 1872, or the Geneva conference of September, 1873.
II. Records of the North American Federal Council, 1868-1877
The central committee of the North American Federal Council served the same function for the sections in the United States that the General Council performed for the federal council--keeping the local sections informed through circulars and letters.
Some difficulty in identifying these records arises from the split between American socialists and the existence of two federal councils from 1872 to 1874. It is not clear in all cases, but most of the material in this series refers to the German faction of the North American Federal Council. A further complication in identification develops from the fact that Friedrich Sorge was the leader of both the American socialists and the General Council, which led to considerable blurring of hierarchical lines. After April, 1874, the General Council formally took over the North American Federal Council. Thus the researcher will find information in the letterbooks of the General Council which really concerns the federal council.
Correspondence, 1871-1877
Most significant in the correspondence section is the 500-page letterbook of the federal council, 1871-1877. Unfortunately, the letters are written on onionskin paper and many of them are faded and almost illegible. They relate to the Sorge faction of the federal council and are signed by secretaries Sorge, Praitsching, Bolte, and Spayer. Generally they comment on the varying activities of the local sections, discuss the labor situation, and inform the sections of the International's policy.
At the beginning of the section are typed extracts that the Ely researchers made of reports in the letterbook which the federal council sent to the General Council and the American sections.
Convention Resolutions and Proceedings, 1870-1876
The material on the conventions of the federal councils of both the Sorge and Woodhull factions is arranged in chronological order. The Coopers Union meeting of November 19, 1870, to protest the Franco-Prussian War was not an International conference. However, members of New York Section 1, the only section then existing in the United States, and future members of the International were among those who sponsored the meeting. Also included are German and English copies of the rules and regulations of the First Annual Congress held by the Sorge faction on July 6-8, 1872, in New York, and by the Woodhull faction in Philadelphia on July 9-10. There is a typed report of a congress held April 11-13, 1874, but the sponsor of this meeting is unclear. A circular and typed minutes of the meeting of July 15, 1876, discuss the reasons for dissolving the International.
Clippings, 1870-1873
The clippings file provides an excellent source of secondary information on the early years of the federal council and also indicates how the contemporary press viewed the International.
Broadsides, 1871-1876
This section consists of handwritten drafts and printed copies of broadsides and circulars in English and German. The federal council used these to alert non-socialist workers to the activities of the International.
Miscellany, 1868, undated
This section includes a handwritten German and English notebook dated 1868, which is early for the IWA in the United States, as well as the undated rules of the Worker Publishing Company.
III. Records of Section 26 (Philadelphia), 1871-1876
The records of this local section are complete for the years 1871-1873 and include incoming correspondence, minutes, financial records, membership records, and advertising materials. Thomas Phillips and Isaac Rehn, both active in the labor movement in Philadelphia, organized Section 26 in October, 1871. Although workers constituted the majority of the section, its native American composition and strong spiritualist strain put the group in sympathy with the Woodhull faction. There is no material to indicate the history of the section after 1876.
Correspondence, Incoming, 1871-1876.
Correspondence from the section's representatives on the federal council to Isaac Rehn, John Mills, and John Shedden constitutes most of this part. The early correspondence mentions dissatisfaction in 1871 that Sorge's Section 1 dominated the federal council. Of greater interest is Mills' correspondence from William West, delegate to The Hague conference, regarding events there. In one letter West commented that the Marxists refused to seat him, not because he represented a bourgeois section, but because of the despotism of “Pope” Karl Marx.
Minutes, 1871-1873
The records of the meetings of the Philadelphia section consist of two volumes. Volume 1 indicates an earlier organizational meeting than the incoming correspondence, for it also includes reports to Rehn on the operation of the federal council dated as early as January 1, 1871. The minutes of the last meeting recorded in Volume 2 imply some inclination among the membership to disband the section; however, nothing was decided, and further history of the section is unknown.
Membership Roll, 1871-1873
This volumes lists members in the order in which they joined the section and includes ages, occupations, and addresses.
Financial Records, 1871-1873
The account book and supplementary receipts and balance sheets in this section indicate that the bulk of the section's meager funds went for rent and newspaper advertising.
Clippings, 1872-1876
These clippings deal largely with the Eight-Hour Movement in Philadelphia, which the section supported. There is little information on the section's own history.
Broadsides, undated
The broadsides printed by Section 26 were mainly advertising for its meetings.
Miscellany, undated
The miscellany includes a hand-lettered obituary of a deceased member and an undated report on a constitutional convention.
IV. Records of Section 1 (St. Louis), 1870-1877
Although much more fragmentary than the records of the Philadelphia section, those of the St. Louis section are interesting because its leader was Otto Weydemeyer, one of the organizers of the Socialist Labor Party and the son of Joseph Weydemeyer. German immigrants made up this section, which consequently remained close to the Sorge faction of the North American Federal Council.
Correspondence, 1870-1877
Most significant is the incoming correspondence, written mainly in German script. It is noteworthy because Sorge and Weydemeyer were the main correspondents, and because most of the letters were written from 1874 to 1876, late in the history of the International Workingmen's Association. Also included are some almost illegible pages torn from a letterbook of outgoing correspondence.
Financial Records, 1874-1876 Sixteen items.
Broadsides, undated Three items.
Miscellany, 1872, 1874 Two items.
