The International Woodworkers of America, Southern Region headquarters was located in Atlanta, Georgia, until 1958, when it was relocated to Memphis, Tennessee.
The collection consists of correspondence, financial and legal documents, weekly work reports, minutes, notes and proposals of contract negotiations, photographs and printed materials. There are also materials related to Local 5-51 of Louisville, Kentucky. The Records, 1943-1959, of District 4, International Woodworkers of America are composed of correspondence, financial and legal documents, weekly work reports, minutes, notes and proposals of contract negotiations, printed material and photographs. The correspondence concerns the financial situations of the locals, strikes and lockouts, representatives from the international office working with local unions, closing of plants, dissolution and re-chartering of locals, arbitration of grievances and collective bargaining procedures. Among the discussants are IWA international, district and local officers, IWA and CIO organizers, company officials and their attorneys, NLRB representatives, the War Labor Board, the U.S. Conciliation Service, state labor councils and government agencies. The financial documents illuminate the fiscal affairs of District 4 and some of its subordinate bodies. The weekly work reports submitted by organizers in the field provide a day-by-day account of their activities.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Georgia State University Library online catalog (GIL). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Donated by International Woodworkers of America, District, March 13, 1973.
Unrestricted access. Oversize material stored offsite; allow 24 hours for retrieval.
To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the Worldwide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original. All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.
[item], [folder title], [series title], International Woodworkers of America, District 4 Records, L1973-22, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
Inventoried by Robert Dinwiddie, December 10, 1973. EAD finding aid created by Apex Data Services, May 2001; revised by William Hardesty, October 2005.
The records of District 4 arrived at the Southern Labor Archives in thirty-one shipping boxes. During processing they were grouped into the four principal categories maintained by the District 4 office: Organizers' reports, Local unions, Company files, and General files. Such a quantity of financial records and agreements were present throughout the records, and because those materials are so frequently consulted as a body, it was decided to segregate them into categories unto themselves.
See Southern Labor Archives Non-Print Collection finding aids for descriptions of photographic material (available in the reading room).
Series contains weekly reports, correspondence and expense vouchers arranged alphabetically by organizer. All files identified by the name of an organizer or by the name of an international representative working as an organizer are filed here, arranged alphabetically by name, so that all reports from each person are placed together. The files of each individual are arranged chronologically. Routine expense vouchers were retained only for periods for which there were no weekly work reports to document activity. Organizers' expenses are documented among the financial records.
All files identified by local union number were placed together by state and within the state alphabetically by name of town. Active and inactive files were brought together, but the files kept separate.
All files identified by company name were placed together and arranged alphabetically by state, town and firm. Here, too, active and inactive files were brought together but not integrated.
All financial documents (expense and salary vouchers, bank statements, check stubs, strike expense receipts, audit reports, monthly financial documents), except the expense vouchers placed with the organizers' report, were assembled here. This permitted elimination of considerable duplication.
This category is a broad grouping of records which do not fit into any of the above categories. The General File is composed mostly of correspondence between District 4 and: other IWA headquarters and the international officers, state labor councils, government agencies, civic groups and individuals. The name "General File" was retained explicitly from the original District 4 file designation. The series is arranged alphabetically.
The Records, 1951-1968, of International Woodworkers of America, Local 5-51 of Louisville, Kentucky, consist of minutes of membership, Executive Board and grievance committee meetings. Topics discussed include contract negotiations, arbitration, competition from the AFL, and the 1953 organizing drive at the General Electric plant in Louisville by several electrical worker unions.
Note: List compiled at time of processing. Material must be requested separately; consult reference archivist. Oversize material stored offsite; allow 24 hours for retrieval.
All IWA agreements were arranged alphabetically by state, city and company name, then chronologically. They are filed together in the Archives's Agreements Collection. Agreements signed by other unions were integrated into that Agreement Collection.
International Woodworkers of America:
Other Agreements:
67 Pamphlets, concerning taxes, social security, labor scholarships abroad, safety, labor unity, family budget, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, peace, the national debt, minimum wage, U.S. labor and Soviet policy, stewardship, school desegregation, Dave Beck, CIO-AFL No-Raiding Agreement, the union shop, automation, AFL-CIO Employees Federal Credit Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, Alabama lumber industry, right-to-work laws, the military reserve, multiple-use mining law, voter education, Human Rights, workers' education, Richard Nixon, the GOP and working people, education, 84th Congress, veterans' benefits, the IUD, Congressional voting record, 1957-1958, Louisiana Division of Employment Security, Labor Law, Medical care, largest U.S. corporation, religion and labor, GM-UAW contract, collective bargaining, TVA, parliamentary procedure, Southern States Woodworkers Group Insurance Plan, industry migration, AFL-CIO merger, price supports, conservation (total 635 leaves).
Newsletters and Bulletins:
Newspapers:
Magazines: