Summary
Abstract
The Office of the President dates from the formation of the United Mine Workers of America in 1890. The office continues to exist in the twenty-first century. This collection mainly consists of correspondence and subject files generated by John L. Lewis and his immediate successors as president of the United Mine Workers of America. Later additions include conference proceedings from annual meetings.
Dates
- Creation: 1898-2010 and undated
Extent
221.5 Linear Feet (45 items (microfilms))
Background
Biographical / Historical
The office of president dates from the formation of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) in 1890. The president presided over international union conventions and meetings of the International Executive Board, appointed committees, organizers, and field workers, interpreted the meaning of the union constitution, led wage negotiations, endorsed or denied strikes and work stoppages, ruled on countless individual, local, and district issues, served as the union’s main spokesman for legislative goals and for health and safety concerns, and supervised the editorial stance and news policies of the United Mine Workers Journal. Under John L. Lewis, the presidency of the UMW became one of the most powerful positions in the American labor movement.
Scope and Contents
The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence and subject files generated by John L. Lewis in three capacities: as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) (1920-1960); as head of the Committee for Industrial Organization/Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from its founding in 1935 to his resignation (1940) and UMW disaffiliation from the CIO in 1942; and as UMW president emeritus. Additional records and materials document the UMW’s re-affiliation with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1944, the internecine struggle of the rival labor federations culminating in the historic AFL-CIO merger agreement (1955), and relations with other unions. There are also substantial runs of presidential correspondence and subject files from Lewis’s successors, Thomas Kennedy (1960-1963), William A. Boyle (1963-1972), Arnold Miller (1972-1979), and Sam Church (1979-1982). Only in the area of wage negotiations are there substantial documents from the decades preceding Lewis’s presidency. (The papers of Lewis’s most important predecessor, UMW president John Mitchell, are at Catholic University.) A nearly complete run of international union constitutions spans the years 1903-2010; there are also numerous district constitutions.
Included among the subject files is a substantial run of printed government hearings. Although these volumes are available electronically, they have been retained because they collectively document the principal concerns and positions of the UMW with regard to twentieth century legislative issues. These issues pertain to prominent topics found within the correspondence and subject files, including coal policy, the perceived threat of nuclear energy, labor practices, the state of the American economy, pensions and benefits, efforts to establish national health care, and ongoing problems related to mine safety and mine-related disease (most notably, black lung). The correspondence and subject files also concern the function and structure of the union, its finances, the president’s leadership in wage negotiations in the anthracite and bituminous regions, his involvement in international affairs, and his responses to communism, dual unionism, and potential rivals such as the Progressive Miners of America.
Prints and negatives found within President’s Office files have been photocopied in their original positions and then moved into cold storage for the sake of preservation. But most UMW photographs reside elsewhere, within either the UMW Journal Office Records or the UMW Photographic, Graphic, and Artifacts Collection.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 14 series: Series 1: Office Files (1900-1997 and undated) Series 2: Correspondence (1929-1967) Series 3: Anthracite Correspondence (1929-1968 and undated) Series 4: Foreign Correspondence (1935-1967) Series 5: Internal Correspondence (1933-1956) Series 6: John L. Lewis Personal Files (1923-1972 and undated) Series 7: President Emeritus Office Correspondence (1949-1969 and undated; bulk 1960-1969) Series 8: President Emeritus General Correspondence (1960-1969) Series 9: President Emeritus Personal files (1937-1973; bulk 1960-1969) Series 10: CIO Files (1924-1962 and undated) Series 11: Government Hearings (1904-1983) Series 12: Wage Negotiations (1898-1983) Series 13: Constitutions (1903-2010) Series 14: Photographs (1916-1997 and undated) Series 15: Additions
Missing Title
Physical Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Penn State University Libraries catalog via the link above. Archival collections may be housed in offsite storage. For materials stored offsite, please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.
Custodial History
These serial joint convention and proceedings were possibly separated out of the the original UMWA President's Office records archival boxes and then earmarked for cataloging. They are being returned to the collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of United Mine Workers of America, 1994-2012.
Processing Information
Processed by Barry Kernfeld.
Mae Casey minimally processed Accession 2022-0033 on January 5th, 2023 by housing the individual items in archival grade boxes.
Using These Materials
Repository Details
Part of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Repository
104 Paterno Library
Penn State University
University Park 16802 USA
(814) 865-1793
spcollections@psu.edu
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Records less than 20 years old shall be made accessible only with the written permission of the designated representative of the donor.
Conditions Governing Use
Photocopies of original materials may be made available for research purposes at the discretion of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Photocopies or reproductions of original materials may be subject to fees as outlined by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries reproduction policies.
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Patrons seeking advice on the availability of unpublished materials for publication should consult relevant copyright law and laws of libel.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], United Mine Workers of America, President's Office records, Collection 01823, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
- Title
- United Mine Workers of America, President's Office records, 1898-2010
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Barry Kernfeld
- Date
- 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin