STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
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Fran Arden, secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District 9, donated their records to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-St. Louis at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on November 3, 1982 and May 23, 1983.
Nineteen railroad machinists organized the International Association of Machinists in Atlanta, Georgia in May 1888. On September 10, 1888 the new union sent circulars across the country announcing its founding and urging the formation of other locals. Originally oriented to the railroad craft, locals quickly formed in towns and cities along the southern, western and Midwestern railroad lines in the railroad shops. Locals 41, 85, and 394 were organized in St. Louis in 1888-1889. By 1902 the St. Louis area, with four locals, received a charter as District 9 of the IAM.
District 9 formed and began meeting before it received its charter in 1902. In its early years, membership fluctuated annually (1155 members in 1901, 742 in 1902, 1047 in 1903, and 950 in 1907) with "lack of interest and unemployment' accounting for the declines. Since the trade was well defined, District 9 estimated that 90-98% of machinists were organized from 1900-1910. In 1907 the international held its convention in St. Louis. District 9 developed into a strong, well-administered, and highly independent union. Several strikes occurred annually, with the greatest number coming during World War I. Between 1916-1920, the district dismissed over 200 members for being scabs. F.M. Parmeter, secretary-treasurer, 1912-1927, and assistant business agent until 1934, conducted the districts business and guided it into its position as one of the strongest in the union. In 1921 and 1938 District 9 won appeals against the national policy on dues. (See The Machinists: A New Study in American Trade Unionism by Mark Perleman for more information on the international.)
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The collection is divided into seven series: administrative, membership, grievances and strikes, detectives, politics and union solidarity, national, and artifacts. Most of the records were F.M. Parmeter's files and are prior to 1945. There is very little material on individual unions. Half of the records deal primarily with the practical union business of dues, membership and national series. The grievances, strikes, and detectives files reveal the conflict with businesses over wages and hours, the changes in union demands, the successes and failures of collective bargaining, and the concern with company spies or "stool pigeons." The politics and union solidarity material indicate the range of labor politics, from radical or communist groups to the traditional Democratic and Republican parties. Topics include: the eight hour day, union organizing, injunctions, jurisdictional disputes, scab labor, strike benefits, company detectives, employment conditions in St. Louis, strikers relief funds, union labels, and the effects of World War I and World War II on unions. (NOTE: Two microfilm rolls, containing volumes 1-4, 5 and 13 are located in box 9.)
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1 - ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, 1902-1965, Folders 1-19, Volumes 1-13
Minutes of the executive board, committees and regular meetings 1901-1927, in ledgers; constitutions 1946-1965; and bylaws 1914-1935. Financial records include dues, loans, taxes, office costs, wage rates, fines and salaries. Officer resignations and recalls and election of business agent.
SERIES 2 - MEMBERSHIP, 1913-1934,1 Folders 20-31
Local lodge files, lodge officers, information on individual members, and withdrawal cards. Some information from the local organizing committee and national organizing literature.
SERIES 3 - GRIEVANCES AND STRIKES, 1909-1945, Folders 32-52, Volume 14
Grievances, injunctions, jurisdictional disputes and protests over unfair conditions including union discrimination during World War II under the subversive acts. Strike files document benefits paid to strikers, scab labor, and boycotted businesses.
SERIES 4 - DETECTIVES, 1901-1937, Folders 53-60
Reports and correspondence revealing company detectives and "stool pigeons" hired to report on employees and union activities. Includes cipher code book (1901) and machinists password book (1914).
SERIES 5 - POLITICS AND UNION SOLIDARITY, 1914-1949, Folders 61-69
Circulars and correspondence on a variety of labor concerns; labor day, union labels, local politics, strikers relief funds, and labor defense funds.
SERIES 6 - NATIONAL RECORDS,, 1911-1934, Folders 70-73
Official circulars from international headquarters on union policy and one issue of Machinists Monthly Journal, vol. 37, no. 10, October 1925.
SERIES 7 - ARTIFACTS, Folder 74 and 1 Oversize
Convention badges and eight LP records of labor songs and statements by IAM leaders.
FOLDER LIST
BOX 1 (106872)
(ALSO MICROFILM ROLL 1, located in box 9.)
VOLUME 1. Minutes, Executive Board, Committees, Regular Meetings, Oct. 1901-Jan. 1904
VOLUME 2. Minutes, Executive Board, Committees, Regular Meetings, Jan. 1904-Nov. 1906
VOLUME 3. Minutes, Executive Board Committees, Regular Meetings, Jan. 1907-Mar. 1908
VOLUME 4. Minutes, Executive Board Committees'. Regular Meetings, Apr. 1912-Jun. 1916
(ALSO MICROFILM BOX 2, located in Box 9.)
VOLUME 5. Minutes, Executive Board, Committees, Regular Meetings, Jun. 1916-1927
(This microfilm roll also contains Volumes 13 and 14.)
(Volumes 6-12 and folders 1-74 not microfilmed.)
VOLUME 6. Constitution, 1946
VOLUME 7. Constitution, 1949
VOLUME 8. Constitution, 1953
VOLUME 9. Constitution and Directory, 1953
VOLUME 10. Constitution, 1958
VOLUME 11. Constitution, 1962
VOLUME 12. Constitution, 1965
Folder 1. Bylaws, 1914-1965
2. Finances, 1911-1924
3. Loans, 1913-1919
4. Taxes, 1914-1933
5. Special Dispensation-Fees, 1915-1917
6. Wage Rates, 1917-1920, 1930
BOX 2 (106873)
7. Unsettled Accounts, 1918-1927
8. Bad Business, 1919-1922, 1927, 1930
9. Insurance Premiums, 1919-1933
10. Office Rents, 1919-1934
11. Supplies, 1920-1934
12. Fines, 1923
13. Salaries to Delegates and Committees, 1930-1934
(ALSO MICROFILM ROLL 2, located in box 9.)
VOLUME 13. Emergency Fund ledger, 1934-1939
14. Wage Earners Health Association, 1938
15. Raffles, 1915-1930
16. Recall of Delegates and Officers, 1916-1920
17. Call for Special Board Meetings, 1917-1919
18. Resignations, 1917-1938
19. Election of Business Agent, 1918-1923-1934
20. Information on Members and Ex-members, 1913-1934
21. Shop Committee, Fulton Iron Works, 1917
22. Members' Withdrawal Cards, 1924-1934
23. Lodges 706, 1090, St. Charles, 1918
24. Officers of Affiliated Lodges, 1923-1934
25. Poplar Bluff, 1932
26. Lodge 660, Alton, Illinois, 1933
27. Tool-Die Makers, Local 688, 1933
28. Lodge 738, St. Louis, 1933
29. Lodge 787, St. Louis, 1933
30. Organizing Committee, local, 1916-1934
31. organizing Literature, national, 1920s-1930s
32. Employers, 1909-1925
33. Resolutions, unfair conditions, 1913-1931
34. Outside Work, 1914-1915, 1925
35. Injunctions, 1914-1928
36. Protests, 1917-1930
37. Jurisdictions, 1918-1931
38. Notices - Local Conditions, 1918-1934
39. Grievances., rulings, 1919-1925, 1933
40. Subversive Acts and Union Discrimination, 1942
41. Discharges ordered by U.S. Government, 1942-1943
42. Grievance, Curtiss-Wright, 1943-1945
43. Strikes, 1909-1934
44. Strikes, Benefits, 1911-1922
45. scabs, 1916-1917, 1922-1923
46. Refund of Strike Benefits, 1917
47. Strike Benefits, Wagner Electric, i9l8
48. Strike Benefits, City Water Works, 1919
49. Strike Benefits, Robinson Fire Apparatus Company, 1919
50. Strike Sanctions, 1919, 1924
(ALSO MICROFILM ROLL 2, located in box 9.)
VOLUME 14. Roll Call of Members of Prosperous Lodge 706, Scabs, 1912-1926
51. Strike Benefits, 1931-1932
52. "We Don't Patronize" organizations, 1936
53. O'Connell's Telegraphic Cipher Code, 1901, Traveling Password, 1914
54. Detectives, Hensley and Parker, 1903
55. Detectives and Stool Pigeons, William J. Parker, 1912
56. Detectives and Stool Pigeons, McFarland case, 1913
57. Dectives, 1913-1920
58. Detectives and Stool Pigeons, 1913-1926
59. War Labor Board, Wagner Electric, 1918
60. Detectives, 1935-1937
BOX 3 (127304)
61. Politics, 1914-1933
62. Labor Day, 1915-1927
63. Reforms, 1917-1920
64. Labor Temples, 1919-1926
65. Union Solidarity, 1919-1933
66. Legislation, 1921, 1923
67. Missouri State Federation of Labor, 1922-1923
68. Union Label, 1932-1933
69. "Stars and Stripes" magazine, 1944
70. Official Circulars, 1911-1915
71. Official Circulars'. 1916-1921
72. Official Circulars, 1922-1934
73. Machinists Monthly Journal, vol. 37, no. 10, October 1925
74. IAM convention, committee, member and delegate badges
OVERSIZE - LP Records
A. side 1 "A Pin for your -Lapel,, 11 "Let's All Shed A Tear"
2 "Fifty Years Ago," "On A Picket Line"
B. side 1 "Labor Day," "It Can Only Happen In The U.S.A."
2 "Election Day," "The Guy That I Send To Congress"
C. Statement by H.W. Brown over CBS, 1-24-48
D. Heart Fund Speech by President Hayes - Machinists Union, 2-5-53
E. side 1 "Love That Team"
2 "The Ballad of Richard Nixon," "The Give Away Boys,ft
"The Dixon Yates Song"
F. "Ballads for Ballots 196o"
G. Registration Announcement cuts 2, 3, 4, 6
H. Registration Announcements cuts 7, 85, 161) 17
INDEX
American Federation of Labor, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
American Labor Party, f. 61
Americanization Schools,, f. 63
Central Trades and Labor Union, f. 61
Citizens' Referendum League, f. 63
City Water Works, f. 48
Communist Party, f. 65
Conference for Progressive Political Action, f. 61
Council for Protection of Foreign Born, f. 65
Curtiss-Wright Company, f. 42
Independent Labor Committee, f. 61
Industrial Detectives, f. 54-60
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District 9, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
International Association of Machinists, District 9, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
International Labor Defense,, f. 65
Kreyerling, David, f. 62
Labor, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
Labor Day, f. 62
Labor History, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
Labor Unions, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
Lemp Brewing Company, f. 37
Liberal Party of Missouri, f. 61
Machinists, f. 1-74, v. 1-14
Miners' Relief Committee, f. 65
Missouri State Federation of Labor, f. 67
Old Age Security, f. 61
One Big Union (OBU), f. 63
Parmeter, F.M.,, f. 2-13, 15-20, 39, 43-59, v. 4, 5
Plum Plan League, f. 63
Politics, f. 61
Railroad Unions, f. 63, 65
Robinson Fire Apparatus Company, f. 49
St. Louis "Dress Up" Association, f. 63
St. Louis Workingmen's Protective Union, f. 63
Scabs, f. 45
Socialist Party of St. Louis, f. 61
Strikes, f. 43-52
Tool and Die Makers, f. 27, 30
Trade Unions,, f. 1-74,1 v. 1-14
Union Electric, f. 32, 50
Unions, f - 1-74 v. 1-1 4
Wagner Electric, f. 47, 59
World War I, f. 59
World War II, f. 40-42
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