STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
This collection is stored off site. Please allow 3-5 business days for retrieval.
James Click's widow, Alice L. Click, donated her late husband's papers to the
Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on August 1, 1990.
James Weldon Click was born in Hickman, Kentucky on September 10, 1917. During the Depression, his family moved to St. Louis in search of employment. Click graduated McKinley High School and began work at the Emerson Electric Company in 1935. In December 1936 he joined Local 1102 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Click became chief steward of the union in 1938 and joined the executive board as trustee to fill an unexpired term. Three years later his position as chief steward was made full-time. Click also served as chairman of the union's Negotiating, Grievance and organizing committees.
In 1947 Click led a successful effort to remove UE Local 1102 membership out of the union, which he felt was dominated by Communists. The membership formed a new union, the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America-CIO. Click was elected president of IUERMWA District 8 and also became one of the union's international vice-presidents. Click remained with the new union until 1963 when differences with its president, James B. Carey, forced him to resign.
Click began a new career in providing job training for disadvantaged youth. He remained in that field until his death in 1988.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The James Weldon Click papers, 1937-1964, primarily document Click's efforts to rid UE Local 1102 of Communist influence and establish the new International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America-CIO, IUERNWA. It includes a report by Click to the first IUE-CIO Constitutional Convention (folder 2); a newsclippings scrapbook, 1937-1947, documenting UE's strikes against Emerson Electric and other union activities (folder 4); Emerson Electric's A and B shift membership and steward's meetings minutes, 1947 and 1948 (folders 18, 19 and 26); IUERMWA executive board meeting minutes, 1947-1950 (folders 24 and 28) and membership meeting minutes, 1950 (folder 30); and notes, correspondence, and memoranda by Click from this period. The collection also contains District 8 convention reports, 1947 (folders 21-23) and IUE-CIO anti-Communist flyers (folder 31) and posters (in OVERSIZE). The collection also contains publications from the period, including issues of Local 1102's newsletters; UE Reporter; Evansville UE News; and Inside UE News (folders 67-75). The papers contain two folders concerning Click's 1963resignation from UERMWA (folders 55 and 57).
SERIES DESCRIPTION
The collection is divided into four series: 1. United, Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers Local 1102, 1937-1963; 2. Labor Agreements, 1939-1963; 3. Publications, 1940-1949; 4. Photographs, 1955-1956. All series arranged chronologically.
FOLDER LISTING
BOX 1 (045272)
FOLDERS 1-35
SERIES 1 - United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers Local 1102, 1937-1963
1. "The Bowling Green Story," nd.
2. IUE-CIO District 8 Future Present, A Report To The First Constitutional Convention by James W. Click, nd.
3. The UE Is Dead but the UE-CIO Still Lives, nd.
4. Newsclipping Scrapbook, 1937-1947
5. Personal, 1939-1953
6. Allied Council Organization Account, June 8, 1937-October 14, 1941
7. Meeting Minute Notes, 1941
8. IUE-Century Electric Agreements, 1942-1962
9. Invitation to Airplane Gun Turret Plant Dedication (Emerson Electric), 9/17/42
10. UERMWA District 8, Semi-Annual Meeting Proceedings, 3/28 & 29/42
11. District Appeals Committee Hearing, Appeal of Defeated Candidates in Local 1102's Election, 1944
12. Photostats, 1945
13. UERMWA Memoranda, 1945
14. The Truth About Unions by Leo Huberman, 1946
15. District Elections Donation Sheets, 1946
16. Executive Board Minutes, 1945-1946
17. UERMWA Annual District Council Convention Minutes, Oct. 5 and 6, 1946
18. A and B Shift Membership Meeting Minutes, 1945-1947
19. A and B Steward's Meeting Minutes, 1947
20. Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 1947
21. UE District 8 Semi-Annual Convention, Moline, IL, 3/29 & 30/47
22. UE District 8 Semi-Annual Convention, Moline, IL, 3/29 & 30/47
23. UE District 8 Annual Convention, 10/4 & 5/47
24. Executive Board Meeting Minutes and Resolutions, 1947-1950
25. Personal, 1941-1949
26. A & B Shift Membership Meeting Minutes and Executive Board Minutes, 1948-1949
27. Executive Board Minutes, 1947-l950
28. Local 1102, Membership Actions, 11/7/49
29. "10 Years of Communist Control of UE," 1950?
30. Membership Meeting Minutes, 1948-1950
31. IUE-CIO Flyers and Posters, 1946-1952
32. Progress of the Skilled Trades, 1950-1956, An Analysis
33. IUE-Wagner Electric Agreements,1941-1951
34. Meeting Minute Notes, 1953
35. IUE-Wagner Electric Agreements, 1953-1960
BOX 2 (045273)
FOLDERS 36-62
36. The Draftee and Internal Security by Rowland Watts, 1955 (I)
37. The Draftee and Internal Security by Rowland Watts, 1955 (II)
38. Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, 1955
39. IUE-District 8 Financial Records, 1955-1961
40. Greater St. Louis IUE COPE Steering, 1955-1963
41. Officers' Report, District 8, 10/55-10/56
42. Wage Survey, Skilled Jobs, St. Louis, MO Area, 1956
43. District Convention Minutes, 11/2,3,4/56
44. District 8 Convention Minutes, 10/24,25,26/57
45. William Snoots Testimonial Dinner, 4/18/58
46. District 8 Council Meeting Minutes, 10/24,25,26/1958
47. Resolutions Submitted by District 8 Executive, 1958-1959
48. Minutes of District Convention, 8/14, 15/1959
49. Strike Fund Financial Reports, 1959-1962
50. Newsclippings, 1960
51. IUE District 8, Officers' Report, Annual Convention, 10/14, 15,16/1960
52. Strike Fund Financial Reports, 1960-1964
53. Western Electronic Manufacturers Association, 1961
54. Report On Audit Strike Fund Plan, 9/30/62
55. Personal, 1962-1964
56. U. S. Department of Labor, 50th Anniversary, 1963
57. Letters To Answer about IUEW Resignation, 1963
SERIES 2 - Labor Agreements, 1939-1963
58. Labor Agreements, undated
59. Labor Agreements, 1939-1950
60. Labor Agreements, 1950-1956
61. Labor Agreements, 1957-1958
62. Labor Agreements, 1958-1959
BOX 3 (045274)
FOLDERS 63-76
63. Labor Agreements, 1959-1960
64. Labor Agreements, 1960-1961
65. Labor Agreements, 1961
66. Labor Agreements, 1961-1963
SERIES 3 - Publications, 1940-1949
67. The Cleveland Union Leader, 8/30/40
68. Local 1104 News letters, 1941-1942
69. Local 1102 Local Review, 10/43
70. Progress of UE 810, Vol. 2, #4-Vol. 4, #10, 8/21/46-11/52
71. UE Reporter, Vol. 1, #1 - Vol. III, #3, Sept. 27, 1946-Sept. 1950
72. Local 1102 Local Review, 10/46
73. Local 1104 Newsletters, 1947-1948
74. Evansville UE News, 10/9/47-4/49
75. Inside UE News, 11/28/52 and 12/12/52
SERIES 4 - Photographs, 1955
76. Photographs, 507.1-507.3, nd., 1955
507.1 James Click; Leonor Sullivan, nd.
507.2 James B. Carey; Stuart Symington; James Click, nd.
507.3 Carey--City of Hope Testimonial Dinner; Left: Russell Taylor, President CIO Shoe Workers; Center: Senator Stuart Symington; Right: IUE-CIO Vice President James Click; Philadelphia, 3/55
OVERSIZE PACKAGE (Located on Oversize Shelf)
507.4 Seventh Constitutional Convention-AFL-CIO, St. Louis, 9/56 Allied Printing Trades Council Ledger, 1916-1944 "Red Pipe Line Into Our Defense Plants," Saturday Evening Post Reprint, 10/18/52 "Warning To All Wagner Workers," 1953 (?) two copies UE District 8's Communist President--Don Harris," 1950 "Why Local 301 with 20,000 Members Left UE and Joined IUE-CIO,-- 1954 "400,000 American Workers Can't Be Wrong!" 3/16/54 "200 UE Communists Named!" (Click corrected, 1/10/55) "IUE-CIO 450,000 American Workers Can't Be Wrong!", 3/31/55
INDEX
Anti-Communism, f. 1-76
Carey, James B., f. 55, 57
Click, James Weldon, f. 1-76
Communism, f. 1-76
Emerson Electric,, f. 1-76
International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America-CIO, f. 1-76
Labor, f. 1-76
Strikes, f. 1-76
Unions, f. 1-76
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, f. 1-76
Wagner Electric, f. 1-76
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
whmc@umsl.edu