Documenting Labor Inside and Out
Who Uses Labor Records?
The records of labor organizations have uses for a wide-range of
researchers. Historians interested in studying the labor movement in a particular area or
trade are only one group of potential users. Union records can also be used by historians
studying other subjects, including the history of race relations, political parties and
philosophies, social conditions of the working classes, immigration, and women's issues.
For example, Gerald Zahavi, Associate Professor of History, University at Albany, State
University of New York, used labor records in his article on "Passionate Commitments: Race,
Sex, and Communism at Schenectady General Electric, 1932-1954" which appeared in the September
1996 issue of the Journal of American History.
But the list of potential users does not stop with historians. Others
interested in labor records can include genealogists tracing family history, teachers seeking
materials to incorporate into classroom lessons, journalists needing historical background for
news reports and feature articles, film makers seeking materials for documentaries, members of
the general public interested in the history of a particular union or about the region or
factory in which the union operated, and those looking to create exhibits, public relations
materials, and other visually interesting displays.
Last, but certainly not least, the historical records of a labor organization can be
extremely useful to the union itself, whether it be to document past policy decisions or
to mark a significant anniversary or event in the union's history. To
mark the closing of Ford Motor Company's Green Island Plant in 1988, 65 Years of Pride
was printed and is part of UAW Local 930's archival records. It is a compilation of
photographs, documents, and memories tracing the history of the plant, a keepsake for
those who worked there to remember their co-workers and a significant part of their
working lives.
Commemorative publications are created for more positive occasions as well. For example,
the Albany Typographical Union No. 4 celebrated some of its significant anniversaries by
issuing souvenir yearbooks, with
historical summaries of the union, photographs of past officers, and other historical
materials. However, contrary to the assertion of the editor in his introduction to the
first of these yearbooks (issued in 1905) that "even official records will become lost,
scattered and destroyed in advancing years," with proper storage and handling, and
donation to an archival repository, the official records of any labor organization can
be preserved for posterity.
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