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Finding Aid for the
FULTON COUNTY TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION, No. 268
Records, 1894-1973
(APAP-018)

VOLUME: 1.25 cubic feet

ACQUISITION: All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, CWA. The records were subsequently microfilmed as part of the Harry Van Arsdale, Jr., Labor History Project.

ACCESS: Access to this record group is unrestricted.

COPYRIGHT: The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268
Administrative History

In January of 1894, printers of Fulton County, New York, met to consider the formation of a typographical union. On March 19 of that year, the Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, was chartered by the International Typographical Union (ITU). [1] Although the union had jurisdiction over all of Fulton County, the printers were generally employed in composing rooms in Gloversville and Johnstown, the county's twin cities.

In 1933, in the middle of the depression, the printers of Fulton County endured some of their most difficult contract negotiations. The local newspaper publishers were losing advertisement because of the economic conditions in the county and the nation as a whole, so they demanded that the printers take wage cuts. After a few months of discussion and the introduction of strikebreakers by the American Newspaper Publishers Association, the union finally acceded to the publishers' demands. [2]

The Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, has always been small. The union never had more than approximately 50 members, and now it has substantially less than half that number. With the difficulties of running a small union and the pressure to consolidate, the Fulton County Typographical Union might some day merge with the Albany Typographical Union No. 4.
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Notes

Back to History

1. Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, Minutes, 1894.
2. Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, Minutes, 1933.

Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268
Scope & Content Note

The records of the Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268, are remarkable for containing a complete set of minutes (1894-1963). included in the minutes are financial statements of the union, reports of delegates to conventions, and occasional correspondence. All the contracts of the union have not survived, but there is a good selection of them for the years 1901 to 1963. There are, however, gaps of many years in these contracts, and the contracts are especially voluminous in the first twelve years of the twentieth century. A couple of other items are included in this collection--a constitution and a scale report--but they are not as important as are the other types of material.

These records provide insight into the workings of a small union over almost a century of development. The fluctuations of the workforce and the introduction of new technologies play a role in the progress of this union, as do the necessary sacrifices of a small union in an often depressed economy. In recent years, Fulton County has had the highest unemployment in New York State.

For related records, see the records of the Albany Typographical Union No. 4, 1850-55, 1869, 1874-1988; Graphic Communications International Union, Local 259-M, 1941, 1946-88; and the records of the Empire Typographical and Mailer Conference, 1919-20, 1929-75, 1983, 1985-88, 1990. Other available records related to Fulton County include the records of the Glove Cities Area Joint Board, ACTWU, 1933-89; and occasional items in the records of the Graphic Communications International Union, Local 259-M. For additional labor collections in the Department, see the online Labor subject guide at http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/labor.htm.

Fulton County Typographical Union, No. 268
Box and Folder List

Series 1: Minutes, 1894-1963

Minutes, 1894-1901
Minutes, 1902-09
Minutes, 1910-15
Minutes, 1916-19
Minutes, 1920-23
Minutes, 1924-27
Minutes, 1928-30
Minutes, 1930-34
Minutes, 1935-40
Minutes, 1941-45
Minutes, 1946-51
Minutes, 1952-55
Minutes, 1956-59
Minutes, 1960-63

Series 2: Subject Files, 1901-10, 1912, 1918, 1925, 1930, 1953-54, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963

Constitution and Rules of Order, 1954
Contracts
 Sample, 1930
 American Fancier, 1901
 A. E. Blanck, 1901-03
 Byron & Scovic, 1918
 Collins & Combes Publishing Company, 1902-05, 1908
 William B. Collins Company, 1901, 1909, 1925, 1930, 1953, 1957,1959, 1961, 1963
 James S. Comrie, 1906, 1908
 Daily Leader, 1905-07
 Fulton County Democrat, 1912
 John B. Judson, 1901-03, 1905-07, 1909-10, 1925
 Labor News Publishing Company, 1902
 Merwin Printing Company, 1925
 Morning Herald Publishing Company, 1902-03, 1905-08, 1925
 H. Ross [Owner of the Gloversville Standard and the Morning Herald], 1901
 Charles M. Smith, 1901-03
 James W. Snyder, 1902, 1905-06, 1908-09
History of Fulton County Typographical Union by  E. L. Wert, Aug.,1987 (MISSING)
Scale Report, 1904