STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
On November 21, 1885 journeyman bakers in St. Louis elected delegates to the first national convention of bakery workers held in Pittsburgh in February 1886. At the Convention the delegates voted to join the Bakery Workers' National Union and were granted a charter as Local No. 15. The delegation also voted to join the eight-hour movement and to send delegates to help from the Central Trades and Labor Union.
Bakers' Union No. 15 went on strike in 1888 to demand an eight-hour work day but it failed because of inexperienced leadership and the questionable loyalties of some union members. The secretary of the national union came to St. Louis in December 1888 and reorganized the local with only 18 members.
In 1893 Local 15 began a monthly newspaper called St. Louis Baker to report labor organizing news and events. The newspaper also publicized the union and helped increase its membership to over 150. Local 15 organized a few union shops and led several boycott efforts.
Strikes by street car workers in 1900 inspired members of Local 15 to strike against the Welle-Bottlers and McKinney bakeries in St. Louis. Another local employer, the Heydt bakery, agreed to hire only union labor and to use the union label, but it made no wage concessions. Within two years, however, union bakers were working a nine-hour day on a minimum wage scale.
In August 1902 workers at the McKinney bakery formed a union shop but refused to join Local 15 because its meetings were conducted in German. In order to keep a union shop at the McKinney bakery, the national union granted a separate charter (No. 238) to the English speaking local. The two groups remained rivals until November 1906 when they amalgamated as Local No. 4. Local No. 4 led successful efforts to shorten working hours, establish the six-day week and improve sanitary conditions at St. Louis bakeries.
VOLUME LIST
ROLL 1
Series 1, Membership Meeting Minutes, 1897-1958
1. Protocol Book, 1897-1904 (German), 350 pp.
2. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1906-1915 (German and English), 107 pp.
3. Membership Meeting Minutes, Alton Local 59, 1906-1919 (includes Executive Board Minutes, 1910-1919), 300 pp.
4. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1915-1931, 472 pp.
5. Protocol Book, 1916-1926 (German), 291 pp.
ROLL 2
6. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1932-1939, c.200 pp.
7. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1940-1952, 399 pp.
8. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1941-1949, 500 pp.
9. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1952-1958, c.100 pp.
ROLL 3
Series 2, Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1902-1958
1. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1902-1915 (German and English), 400 pp.
2. Joint Executive Board of St. Louis and vicinity Meeting Minutes, 1908-1915, 200 pp.
3. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1907-1915 (German), 206 PP.
4. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1916-1922 (German and English), 200 pp.
5. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1922-1924, 200 pp.
6. Executive Board Arrangements Committee Meeting Minutes, 1923-1930, 95 pp.
7. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1925-1926, 200 pp.
ROLL 4
8. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1926-1928, 200 pp.
9. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1928-1931, 200 pp.
10. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1931-1933, 155 pp.
11. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1933-1934, 146 pp.
12. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1934-1937, 300 pp.
13. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1937-1941, 300 pp.
ROLL 5
14. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1949-1951, 152 pp.
15. Executive Board Meeting Minutes and Reports, 1951-1956, 300 pp.
16. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1956-1958, 300 pp.
Series 3, Financial Records and Membership Lists, 1918-1950s
1. Financial Records, 1918-1933, 54 pp.
2. Financial Records, 1930-1950, 150 pp.
3. Wrappers and Label Accounts, 1936-1955, 158 pp.
ROLL 6
4. Financial Records and Membership Lists, 1936-1955, 182 pp.
5. Membership Lists, 1940-1955, 300 pp.
6. Financial Records and MEmbership Lists, 1942-1949, 176 pp.
7. Financial Records and Membership Lists, 1943-1954, 152 pp.
8. Financial Records and Membership Lists, 1949-1953, 142 pp.
9. Membership Lists, c.1950-1954, 260 pp.
10. Membership Lists, 1952, 133 pp.
ROLL 7
Series 4, Board of Directors' Social Educational Club Records, 1934-1948
1. Meeting Minutes, 1931-1941
2. Income and Expenses, 1946-1948
Series 5, Shop Meeting Minutes, 1941-1957
1. Various Shops, Meeting Minutes, 1941-1945, 398 pp.
2. Doughnut, Cookie, and Potato Chip Shops, Meeting Minutes, 1952-1958, c.100 pp.
3. Y and M Bakery and Freund Pie Company Shops, Meeting Minutes, 1950-1957, 29 pp.
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
ONE UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143