Subseries:
Employer Files, 1951-19614 boxes
Files of the Quin State Regional Office, Newark, New Jersey, containing records of
relations of the union to textile manufacturing companies. These files are arranged
by name of employer or by topic, and chronologically thereunder. They include
letters, bulletins, drafts of labor contracts, circular letters, arbitration
documents, news clippings, and other papers pertaining to labor-management
relations.
Files concern Botany Mills, Personal Products Corporation, Forstman Woolen Company,
Ludlow Manufacturing and Sales Company, and Harriet and Henderson Cotton Mills.
Largest of these files is the one which includes records of a prolonged strike in
the Harriet and Henderson Cotton Mills, Henderson, North Carolina, from November 17,
1958 until termination by the union June 1, 1961. This file contains no letters or
other papers from the office of the employer.
The three folders of correspondence on Harriet/Henderson contain letters,
memoranda, circular letters, and reports. They relate to negotiations; conciliation
attempts by Governor Luther Hodges; the use of strike breakers, state police, and
militia; national reaction to the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of eight
union men for conspiracy to commit sabotage; appeals and efforts to secure their
release; and strike relief and job placement programs.
Two folders of Strike Data include bulletins, circulars, radio scripts, financial
reports, speeches, news clippings, and like materials relating to the strike.
One folder is a file of the Freedom
Fighter, which was the name of a mimeographed sheet published
approximately once a week by the striking locals to keep members informed of the
progress of the strike, news of arrests, distribution of food and clothing, and
other matters of interest to the strikers. The file contains publication numbers 5
to 32 and 34 to 47 during the period from October 13, 1959 until June 10, 1961.
One folder of strike relief correspondence also includes an itemized report of all
contributions from August, 1960 until May, 1961. A circular letter by William
Pollock, June 5, 1961, in the correspondence file, stated that the union had spent a
million dollars in support of the strike and that another quarter of a million had
been contributed by staff members, other unions, and interested individuals.
The Job Placement file consists of one folder of correspondence by union officers,
employers, and others interested in providing employment for those strikers who
could move from Henderson. Included in the file are personnel sheets showing
personal history, job history and experience, financial data, and other information
useful for job placement.
