The collection generally follows the same arrangement Dr. Leiserson used, and is organized according to these categories:
- Correspondence: professional, then personal
- Diaries, expense record, and appointments
- Speeches and articles
- Book reviews
- Syllabi for courses taught at Antioch College
- Bibliographies of Leiserson articles
- Biographical material and memorabilia
- Books (drafts and manuscripts for two books)
- Clippings
- Trade Union Files: correspondence with unions, memoranda re study of American trade unions, reports re study of American trade unions, Handbook of Trade Unions (annotated notebooks), decisions (including directly related correspondence), and miscellaneous statements and reports
- Photographs
CORRESPONDENCE in the Leiserson Papers makes up two-thirds of the collection. Professional correspondence, 1910-1957, accounts for forty-five file boxes, and personal correspondence, 1909-1957, for less than two boxes. The professional correspondence is filed alphabetically by name or subject, with material in each folder following a chronological arrangement by months. The personal correspondence is organized chronologically by months.
An examination of folder titles in the contents list below shows the individuals and organizations with which Dr. Leiserson corresponded, and suggests topics and activities in which he was most involved. In the course of his teaching, his labor relations work, and his public service activities, he corresponded with many contemporary economists, with state (especially Ohio and New York) and federal officials, with owners and managers in industry, and with labor leaders.
As is to be expected, correspondence with a person may be filed under subject titles as well as under the individual's name. For instance, Sidney Hillman letters are also under Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, George M. Harrison letters under Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Senator Elbert Thomas under Labor Legislation, and Edwin E. Witte under Committee on Economic Security. On the other hand, several organizational files contain a noteworthy individual's letters where there is no folder title with his name, such as American Association for Social Security (Abraham Epstein), American Association for Labor Legislation (John B. Andrews), and American Federation of Labor (William Green). Cross reference sheets have been placed in many folders in an effort to guide the researcher.
In trying to explain economics, labor relations, or legislation, Leiserson's letters were often detailed. In the 1920s when he was an arbitrator for the clothing industry he gave advice to both employers and workers; in the early 1930s he helped to guide Ohio's employment service and enactment of its unemployment law; then as head of federal agencies he provided expert opinion to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman and to many members of Congress. His work with the National Mediation Board, and especially with the National Labor Relations Board, is not adequately covered simply by the folders under those titles. Regional directors and field examiners with whom he corresponded with any regularity at all have folders under their own names. Examples are Frank M. Kleiler, once his secretary and later regional director of the NLRB in Pittsburgh, and David A. Morse, New York regional director who received letters even after entering the armed services--letters in which Leiserson gave news of the board and problems with labor, management, and the administration.
Among the most informative letters in the professional correspondence are those exchanged with long-time friends: John R. Commons, Edwin E. Witte, Selig Perlman, and David Saposs, economists; Max Otto, philosopher; Louis Stark of the New York Times; John A. Fitch of The Survey and later the New York School of Social Work; and Carl Sandburg, the poet.
Dr. Leiserson's personal correspondence is unique in two respects: (1) it is composed almost entirely of letters from Leiserson, himself, to his wife, and to his children after they were grown, and (2) whenever he was absent from home, as he frequently was, he faithfully wrote long letters in which he kept his family informed of the progress of a meeting or the problems of reaching a decision in a labor case. The latter is particularly true in the period in which he was an arbitrator for the men's clothing industry, 1918-1926.
In addition to the professional and personal correspondence in boxes 1 through 47, correspondence may be found in two other places: (1) In the trade union files are letters exchanged with unions. Prior to 1945 these were chiefly letters relating to Leiserson's requests for union materials and union requests for copies of Leiserson's decisions or opinions. Then on Dec. 20, 1944, in behalf of his study on the government of American labor organizations, he sent a letter to unions asking them to provide him with their constitution, by-laws, convention proceedings, and histories. Trade union correspondence following that date generally relates to this project. (2) Also in the trade union files are many important decisions in which Leiserson participated. Correspondence directly associated with a decision is filed with it, just as he had it.
DIARIES, EXPENSE RECORD, AND APPOINTMENTS: Although the diaries and expense book are not consecutive in time and, in fact, cover very few total years, they are of particular value in helping to elucidate the periods in which they were written. In 1906 Mr. Leiserson recorded his attempts to find a summer job in industry in Chicago, and the following year he kept a detailed record of his student expenses at Wisconsin. His two-year diary in 1919-1920 describes his arbitration conferences and conversations, and is supplemented with clippings relating to decisions in the clothing industry. From 1935 to 1937, and again from 1942 to 1944, he evidently kept fairly detailed notes of mediation conferences, conversations, even his thoughts and reactions, and these were at some time typed and put into a looseleaf notebook. For 1946-1947 there is a notebook containing appointments, telephone calls, lists of railroad and airline organizations, speaking engagements, and miscellaneous information.
SPEECHES AND ARTICLES: Leiserson's articles, speeches, and book reviews in the collection begin with his first published item in a settlement monthly in New York at the age of eighteen, and include a great number of his later articles and public addresses, as well as bibliographies of his articles. In addition, there are drafts and manuscripts for an unpublished book, “Labor Relations,” and for the book, American Trade Union Democracy.
The next several series are both small and relatively self-explanatory.
The TRADE UNION FILES not only contain the correspondence previously described, but also extensive material gathered by Dr. Leiserson and his assistants for the study of trade union governments, 1944-1948. Research for the study produced numerous informative memoranda and reports concerning the unions and their organization, written chiefly by three men who were associated with the project at various times-Joseph Schister, Herbert Lahne, and Joseph Kovner. It may be that the annotated, four-part, “Handbook of Labor Unions” (Boxes 63 and 64) was developed and used for this study; no date is given on the handbook.
Boxes 65-70 and Volume 6 contain much information relating to arbitration decisions in which Dr. Leiserson participated. These extend from 1918 to the 1950s. The contents list below shows the industries involved.
The PHOTOGRAPHS include images of Leiserson, his family, and colleagues. Also present are images of meetings and commissions with which Leiserson was involved.
