Artifacts

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As the official repository for the I.A.M.A.W., the Southern Labor Archives has gathered a large collection of Machinist artifacts. These items include charters, pins, badges, certificates, awards, dues books, illustrations, and strike signs which demonstrate the history of the union and how it has changed over time. Artifacts range in age from the late nineteenth century up through the twentieth. Here are some items of general interest.

	An early charter of the National Association of Machinists, signed on May 5, 1888 in Atlanta, GA.
	The Machinists collection at GSU contains a number of buttons, pins, and badges from labor conventions, ranging from 1901 up to the 1970s.
	Three dues books, dates ranging in age from 1903 (center) to the 1930s (r) and 1940s (l).
	Two constitution booklets and two railroad agreement/contract booklets.
	Two copies of the Machinists Monthly Journal from 1917 and 1954. The Journal was published from 1889 to 1956.
	"O'Connell's Cipher Code", one of the code books used by IAM officials during the early years. Cipher codes were used for telegraph communications between officials so that employers could not find out what the union was discussing or planning (especially since some telegraph centers were located at the rail yards where the Machinists worked).
	Charter for Newark New Jersey Lodge 340, 1892 (reorganized 1894). The Machinists collection has several charters for different lodges, ranging from the late nineteenth century up to the 1980s.