Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids

Container	Title
U.S. Mss 117A/11C	Subseries: File C: William Green Papers, 1934-1951 Scope and Content Note: File C deals almost entirely with the policy and administration of William Green as the President of the A.F.L. during the period of the formation of the C.I.O and the succeeding period of conflicting relations between the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. Grouped within File C is correspondence filed under the following headings: Historical File Convention File Relations with the C.I.O. Political Collaboration with the C.I.O. Papers Favoring A.F.L. C.I.O Unity National and International Union Correspondence State Federations of Labor Correspondence Central Labor Union Correspondence Local Union Correspondence Miscellaneous Correspondence
	Historical File Scope and Content Note This file contains a report of the 1934 A.F.L. Convention, which shows a great many resolutions were introduced proposing organization of industrial unions. The report states that, with the passage of the Wagner Act defining and protecting the right of workers to organize, a great clamor arose for the organization of the unorganized workers. This 1934 convention took place in San Francisco, where delegates stated that many industrial unions had been formed and were asking for A.F.L. charters. The report shows that a Committee on Industrial Organization was appointed at this convention, which was to render its report at the 1935 convention at Atlantic City. These records also contain a minority report of the Committee on Industrial Organization, which was presented and defended by Charles P. Howard, later Secretary of the C.I.O. There is a copy of a news release, dated November 10, 1935, announcing the formation of a new Committee on Industrial Organization, which would operate on the basis of the minority report. Letters by William Green in this period of the file show grave concern that the labor movement would be split and destroyed by internal struggles. A December 17, 1935 letter by John P. Frey states that there was satisfaction to employers who wish to see labor weakened, and to communists, who hoped to enter the struggle. The Executive Council of the A.F.L., August 5, 1936, issued a report, which takes up several hundred pages in this file, on the C.I.O., and which includes a lengthy statement by Henry Ohl, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Labor. This Executive Council report contains statements on jurisdictional strikes, violence and intimidation, communist activity, and propaganda. Through 1937 and 1938 the file contains press releases and letters about the A.F.L. - C.I.O. conflict, and about revocations of charters of state, central, and local unions, as well as of their reorganization. There is also a folder of letters from congressmen and senators, and a letter from John L. Lewis resigning as president of the C.I.O. One group of news releases concerns the Harry Bridges Defense Committee in 1941.
Box 1	1934-1936
Box 2	1935-1936
Box 3	1936-1942
	Convention File, 1935-1952 Scope and Content Note Box 4 contains the initial group of these files received in the Archives. It consists of correspondence preparatory to conventions, resolutions passed by conventions, Executive Council reports of actions pursuant to convention decisions, and related correspondence. There is an overlapping of dates in the correspondence relating to each annual convention because of the continuity of the subject matter considered from year to year. The 1947 convention file, for example, may contain correspondence dated 1946 and 1948. The file includes a 60-page typewritten report on the relations between the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. which was given to the 1937 convention. Charlton Ogburn, counselor for the A.F.L., wrote a letter, included here, outlining the legal basis for suspending C.I.O. unions and the possibility of obtaining a permanent injunction against them. Attorney Joseph A. Padway, in an October 1937 letter, cites authority whereby the A.F.L. may refuse to seat convention delegates. This file shows that negotiations between the two great unions were resumed with a 1942 “No-raid” agreement, and in 1943 with a proposal by Philip Murray to arbitrate jurisdictional disputes. By 1945, letters to Green show Murray was organizing the building trades. In 1947, after the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, letters in the file proposed a joint effort to meet attacks by industrialists and lawmakers, and co-operation in post-war reconversion of industry, housing, and unemployment. About three years after acquisition of the first group of A.F.L. papers, the Archives received additional material for the Convention File, covering the period 1947 to 1952, now in Box 5-23. The newer material covers much the same subjects as were treated in conventions prior to 1947. In addition, nearly one half the 1947 to 1952 file is concerned with such matters as the International Labor Organization, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, formation of an international labor organization not dom1nated by communists, European Recovery Program, United Nations, and other related matters.
Box 4	1935-1948
Box 5	, 1947 A to Hol
Box 6	, 1947 Int to Lab
Box 7	, 1947 Lab to Pay
Box 3	, 1947 Pas to Taf
Box 9	, 1947 Taf to Wor
Box 10	, 1948 A to Int
Box 11	, 1948 Int to Pub
Box 12	, 1948 Rep to Wor
Box 13	, 1949 A to Int
Box 14	, 1949 Int to Int
Box 15	, 1949 Int to Lat
Box 16	, 1949 Leg to Wor
Box 17	, 1950 A to Int
Box 18	, 1950 Int to Int
Box 19	, 1950 Jew to Wor
Box 20	, 1951 A to Int
Box 21	, 1951 Int to Mex
Box 22	, 1951 Mut to Wag
Box 23	, 1952 A to W
	Relations with the C.I.O. Scope and Content Note Letters in this file show a great deal of organizing activity on the part of the A.F.L. as well as the C.I.O. In a July 31, 1936 letter, President M. F. Tighe, of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers, said there was quite a bit of confusion, and that, in organization of steel workers, Philip Murray seemed to be running the show. Rather than suspend certain A.F.L. unions for C.I.O. activities, a letter from Charlton Ogburn suggested that it would be better to wait until the unions were automatically disqualified for non-payment of dues. A letter from Organizer Francis Fenton to Green, September 28, 1937, disclosed that the C.I.O. was issuing charters to member unions. The ensuing correspondence of this period in the file relates to litigation over funds of defecting unions, jurisdictional strikes, membership raids, and peace committees. A letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 30, 1939, appears in this file, asking both the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. to form a joint peace committee.
Box 24	1935-1941
Box 25	1941-1949
Box 26	Political Collaboration with the C.I.O., 1937-1947 Scope and Content Note: In this file a letter from Rhode Island Federation of Labor President Joseph T. Cahir to Green, December 29, 1937, states that Rhode Island has a Labor's Non-Partisan League, of which Cahir is president, and the A.F.L. in control. Green's return letter replies that the Labor's Non-Partisan League is considered a C.I.O. adjunct. Many letters from local and central unions tell of cooperation with the C.I.O., to each of which Green's letters reply that there should be no collaboration. Green's letter, January 28, 1938, to Kenneth I. Taylor, legislative agent for the Massachusetts Federation of Labor, states, “We can not delegate authority and power to some C.I.O. auxiliary to formulate and execute a political policy for the American Federation of Labor.”
	Papers Favoring A.F.L.-C.I.O. Unity Scope and Content Note: This file consists of letters, telegrams, resolutions, and memoranda from individuals and from organizations in labor, government, industry, churches, and other sources.
Box 27	1935-1938
Box 28	1938-1939
Box 29	1939-1951
	National and International Unions Correspondence Scope and Content Note Correspondence of national and international unions is arranged according to the commonly used name of each union. The United Auto Workers Union is listed under “A” for Auto Workers. The international Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, and Helpers is listed under “B” for Blacksmiths. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is listed under “C” for Carpenters. National and international union correspondence consists of communications between the Office of President William Green and the unions. The same subject matter is covered by correspondence in this file as in the ones previously listed, except that it pertains more directly to the unions named. More noteworthy correspondence is that of the Newspaper Guild, the Mine Workers, the Auto Workers, and the Steel Workers.
Box 30	Actors Union
Box 30	Auto Workers
Box 30	Bakery Workers
Box 30	Barbers
Box 30	Boiler Makers
Box 30	Boot and Shoe
Box 30	Brewery Workers
Box 30	Bricklayers
Box 30	Bridge Workers
Box 30	Building Service
Box 30	Carpenters Union
Box 30	Cement Workers
Box 31	Furniture Workers
Box 31	Garment Workers
Box 31	Glass Blowers
Box 31	Glass Workers
Box 31	Glove Workers
Box 31	Grain Processors
Box 31	Government Employees
Box 31	Handbag Workors
Box 31	Hatters
Box 31	Hod Carriers
Box 31	Hotel and Restaurant
Box 31	Jewelry Workers
Box 31	Leather Workers
Box 31	Letter Carriers
Box 31	Locomotive Engineers
Box 31	Longshoremen
Box 31	Machinists
Box 31	Marine Engineers
Box 31	Maritime Unions
Box 31	Match Workers
Box 31	Metal Polishers
Box 31	Mine Workers
Box 32	Mine workers, continued
Box 32	Molders
Box 32	Municipal Employees
Box 32	Musicians
Box 32	Newspaper Guild
Box 32	Office Workers
Box 32	Oil Workers
Box 32	Packinghouse Workers
Box 32	Painters
Box 32	Paper Workers
Box 33	Pattern Makers
Box 33	Photo Engravers
Box 33	Plasterers
Box 33	Plumbers
Box 33	Powder Workers
Box 33	Pressmen
Box 33	Quarrymen
Box 33	Railway, Street and Bus
Box 33	Rubber Workers
Box 33	Seafarers, Masters, Mates & Pilots
Box 33	Sheep Shearers
Box 33	Ship Builders
Box 33	Shoe Workers
Box 33	Sleeping Car Porters
Box 33	Steel Workers
Box 33	Switchmen
Box 33	Teachers
Box 33	Teamsters
Box 33	Technical Engineers
Box 33	Telegraphers
Box 33	Telephone Workers
Box 33	Textile Workers
Box 33	Tobacco Workers
Box 33	Trainmen, Railroad
Box 33	Typographical Union
Box 33	Upholsterers
Box 33	Wallpaper Craftsmen
	State Federations of Labor Correspondence Scope and Content Note Correspondence of the state federations of labor is filed by state in alphabetical order. This covers subjects previously listed, but concerns the situation within a given state. Letters from Green's office indicate to officers of state federations that they may not continue to accept membership of locals belonging to suspended international unions, or of any C.I.O. union. Montana and Oregon files record convention contests with C.I.O. sympathizers. Canadian unions are listed under “C”. There are no folders for Alaska, Florida, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, and Missouri.
Box 34	Alabama
Box 34	Arizona
Box 34	Arkansas
Box 34	California
Box 34	Canada
Box 34	Colorado
Box 34	Connecticut
Box 34	Georgia
Box 34	Idaho
Box 34	Illinois
Box 34	Indiana
Box 34	Iowa
Box 34	Kansas
Box 34	Kentucky
Box 34	Louisiana
Box 35	Maryland
Box 35	Massachusetts
Box 35	Michigan
Box 35	Minnesota Note: Also available on Micro 568.
Box 35	Mississippi
Box 35	Montana
Box 35	Nebraska
Box 35	Nevada
Box 35	New Hampshire
Box 35	New Jersey
Box 35	New Mexico
Box 35	New York
Box 35	North Carolina
Box 35	North Dakota
Box 35	Ohio
Box 35	Oklahoma
Box 35	Oregon
Box 35	Pennsylvania
Box 36	Rhode Island
Box 36	South Carolina
Box 36	South Dakota
Box 36	Tennessee
Box 36	Texas
Box 36	Utah
Box 36	Vermont
Box 36	Virginia
Box 36	Washington
Box 36	West Virginia
Box 36	Wisconsin
Box 36	Wyoming
	Central Labor Union Correspondence Scope and Content Note Correspondence of central labor unions is filed according to the state, then the city, of its location. Letters of the Trades and Labor Council of Contra Costa County, California, are a good example of the process in which part of the organization became C.I.O., and the remainder was reorganized by the A.F.L. Correspondence with the Minneapolis Central Union recounts jurisdictional disputes, infiltration of communists, endorsement of Hubert Humphrey as candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Teamster strike of 1946. Central unions of Canada are listed under “C”. There are no folders for Delaware, Colorado, Maine, Idaho, New Mexico, Mississippi, Vermont, and Wyoming.
Box 37	Alaska
Box 37	Alabama
Box 37	Arizona
Box 37	Arkansas
Box 37	California
Box 38	Canada
Box 38	Connecticut
Box 38	Florida
Box 38	Georgia
Box 38	Hawaii
Box 38	Illinois
Box 38	Indiana
Box 38	Iowa
Box 38	Kansas
Box 38	Kentucky
Box 38	Louisiana
Box 39	Maryland
Box 39	Massachusetts
Box 39	Michigan
Box 39	Minnesota Note: Also available on Micro 568.
Box 39	Missouri
Box 39	Montana
Box 39	Nebraska
Box 39	Nevada
Box 39	New Hampshire
Box 39	New Jersey
Box 39	New York
Box 40	North Carolina
Box 40	Ohio
Box 40	Oklahoma
Box 40	Oregon
Box 40	Pennsylvania
Box 40	Rhode Island
Box 40	South Carolina
Box 40	South Dakota
Box 40	Tennessee
Box 40	Texas
Box 40	Utah
Box 40	Virginia
Box 41	Washington
Box 41	West Virginia
Box 41	Wisconsin
Box 42	Local Union Correspondence, 1937-1947 Scope and Content Note: Local union correspondence is filed by the commonly used name of the union, according to years. There is comparatively little direct correspondence between local unions and the president of the A.F.L. One exception is the file in the Aluminum Workers local of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, which concerns litigation on the part of the A.F.L. to recover funds from the local, which had defected to the C.I.O.
	Miscellaneous Correspondence Scope and Content Note: This file contains such varied materials as a report by John P. Frey on British Trade Unionism, January, 1937; and letters concerning labor's war efforts in World War II, housing, the New Deal, and communism. There are many letters in the file from lawyers, churchmen, politicians, and industrialists, offering unsolicited advice on relations with the C.I.O.
Box 43	1936-1938
Box 44	1937-1940