Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Collection, 1937-1975
| Special Collections & Archives
Arrangement
Series I: Files of the Executive Secretaries, 1937-1975
Subseries A: Philip "Slim" Connelly Papers, 1937-1975
Subseries 1: Los Angeles CIO Council - Administrative Files, 1941-1951
Subseries 2: Los Angeles CIO Council - General Correspondence (A-Z), 1943-1949
Subseries 3: Los Angeles CIO Council - Committees, Councils and Departments, 1942-1952
Subseries 4: Los Angeles CIO Council - Affiliate Unions, 1939-1951
Subseries 5: Non-Affiliate Organizations, 1940-1952
Subseries 6: Local, State and National Government - Labor Relations, 1938-1952
Subseries 7: General Subject Files (A-Y), 1940-1951
Subseries 8: Non-Manuscript Material, 1937-1975
Subseries B: Albert T. "Blackie" Lunceford Papers, 1945-1961
Subseries 1: Los Angeles CIO Council - Administrative Files, 1945-1959
Subseries 2: Los Angeles CIO Council - Committees, Councils and Departments, 1947-1959
Subseries 3: Los Angeles CIO Council - Affiliate Organization Files, 1948-1961
Subseries 4: Non-Affiliated Organizations, 1948-1959
Subseries 5: Local, State and national Government - Labor Relations, 1948-1957
Subseries 6: General Subject Files (A-W), 1947-1959
Series II: Employer-Employee Relations Initiative, "Right-To-Work", 1941-1960
Subseries A: Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-States (No on Proposition 18) Campaign, 1941-1959
Subseries 1: Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, 1957-1958
Subseries 2: Los Angeles Central Labor Council, 1957-1958
Subseries 3: Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-State, 1958-1959
Subseries 4: Los Angeles County Central Labor Council, 1956-1958
Subseries 5: Affiliated Labor and Union Organizations (A-Z), 1941-1959
Subseries 6: Non-affiliated Organizations Files (A-Z), 1949-1958
Subseries 7: Newspaper Clippings (chronological), 1957-1958
Subseries B: Right-to-Work Initiative (Yes on Proposition 18) Campaign, ca. 1944, 1957-1958
Subseries 1: Senator William Knowland, 1957-1958
Subseries 2: Organization and Personalities Files (A-Z), ca. 1944, 1957-1958
Subseries C: State Right-to-Work Initiative (Pro/Con), 1957-1958
Subseries 1: Official Reports, 1957-1958
Subseries 2: Newspaper Clippings (chronological), 1957-1958
Subseries D: National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z), 1945-1960
Subseries 1: Con National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z), 1945-1960
Subseries 2: Pro National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z), 1954-1959
Subseries 3: Pro/Con National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z), 1954-1959
Subseries E: Photographic Material, 1958
Abstract
Creators
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (Calif.)
The Los Angeles Federation of Labor was officially organized by five distinct unions on June 23, 1889: printers, cigar makers, tailors, carpenters, and bakers. On September 7, 1890, the Los Angeles Typographical Union procured a charter from the San Francisco Federated Trades in order to form the Los Angeles Council of Labor. In 1894, the earliest Los Angeles Council of Labor, in an effort to create strength and unity, affiliated itself with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). During the 1930s, the National AFL was rocked by an internal split that resulted in the establishment of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The National CIO chartered the Greater Los Angeles CIO Council in May 1937, which maintained a separate existence for two decades. The National AFL and CIO merged in 1955 and the California State Federation of Labor in 1957. This set in motion a countywide merger in Greater Los Angeles between 1957 and 1959. By early 1959, the Los Angeles Central Labor Council and five other central labor bodies — Long Beach, Pomona, San Gabriel Valley, San Pedro-Wilmington, and Santa Monica — as well as the Greater Los Angeles CIO Council, merged to create the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
The Los Angeles Central Labor Council, AFL, under the auspices of Executive-Secretary William J. Bassett and other local labor councils organized the Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-State. The Committee led the fight against the Employer-Employee Relations Initiative; reached out to civic, community and religious groups; and educated Californians on the "Right-to-Work" issue. Such groups as the California State Federation of Labor, the Greater Los Angeles CIO Council, the Los Angeles Citizens Committee Against Proposition 18, and the Southern Californian Citizens Committee Against Proposition 18 joined national labor organizations to stop the "Right-to-Work" initiative.
Subjects (links to similar collections)American Communications Association
American Federation of Hosiery Workers
American Federation of Labor
American Red Cross
Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers of America.
California. California Unemployment Insurance Act
California Industrial Union Council
Committees - California - Los Angeles
Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
International Fishermen and Allied Workers of America
International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers
Labor unions - California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (Calif.)
Political Action Committees
Waterfronts - California - Los Angeles
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationFor more information please see https://digital-library.csun.edu/.
Robert G. Marshall, Neil Bethke, Philip Gordon, Oscar Hernandez, Mark McCreary, Gina L. Nichols, Evelyn Taylor; 1993, 2000, 2003
Special Collections and Archives staff; 2013
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Collection consist primarily of administrative records that document the activities of the Federation from 1937 through 1963. Materials in the collection include campaign literature, correspondence, ephemera, minutes, pamphlets, political advertisements, speeches, and newspaper clipping which provide in-depth insights into the complex issues of industrial unionism, states' rights, and the elective process in California during the 1950s. The collection is arranged in two series: Files of the Executive Secretaries (1937-1975) and Employer-Employee Relations Initiative, "Right-To-Work" (1941-1960).
Series I, Files of the Executive Secretaries, has been divided into two subseries, Philip "Slim" Connelly Papers (1937-1975) and Albert T. "Blackie" Lunceford Papers (1945-1961).
Subseries A, Philip "Slim" Connelly Papers, has been further subdivided into eight subseries: Los Angeles CIO Council - Administrative Files (1941-1951), Los Angeles CIO Council - General Correspondence (A-Z) (1943-1949), Los Angeles CIO Council - Committees, Councils and Departments (1942-1952), Los Angeles CIO Council - Affiliate Unions (1939-1951), Non-Affiliate Organizations (1940-1952), Local, State and National Government - Labor Relations (1938-1952), General Subject Files (A-Y) (1940-1951), and Non-Manuscript Material (1937-1975).
Subseries B, Albert T. "Blackie" Lunceford Papers, has been further subdivided into six subseries: Los Angeles CIO Council - Administrative Files (1945-1959), Los Angeles CIO Council - Committees, Councils and Departments (1947-1959, Los Angeles CIO Council - Affiliate Organization Files (1948-1961), Non-Affiliated Organizations (1948-1959), Local, State and National Government - Labor Relations (1948-1957), and General Subject Files (A-W) (1947-1959). Each subseries is arranged alphabetically.
Series II, Employer-Employee Relations Initiative, "Right-To-Work," consists primarily of the committee files of William J. Bassett, Executive-Secretary of the Los Angeles Central Labor Council, AFL, who managed the Save-Our-State Committee Campaign through early 1959. The files include campaign literature, correspondence, ephemera, minutes, pamphlets, political advertisements, speeches, and newspaper clippings providing in-depth insights into industrial unionism, states' rights and the elective process in California during the 1950s. The series is divided into five subseries: Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-States (No on Proposition 18) Campaign (1941-1959), Right-to-Work Initiative (Yes on Proposition 18) Campaign (ca. 1944, 1957-1958), State Right-to-Work Initiative (Pro/Con) (1957-1958), National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z) (1945-1960), and Photographic Material (1958). Each subseries is arranged alphabetically.
Subseries A, Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-States (No on Proposition 18) Campaign includes materials related to the Edmund G. (Pat) Brown for Governor campaign of 1958; attendance cards and correspondence related to the Los Angeles Central Labor Council; board member lists, brochures, correspondence, fliers, minutes and other materials related to the Save-Our-State campaign; and similar materials created by the Los Angeles County Central Labor Council, and affiliated and non-affiliated labor and union organizations.
Subseries B, Right-to-Work Initiative (Yes on Proposition 19) Campaign, includes correspondence, fliers, brochures, pamphlets, political advertisements, and newspaper clippings related to Senator William Knowland’s campaign for governor and his support for the Employer-Employee Relations Initiative "Yes on Proposition18" Campaign; and similar materials collected by the Los Angeles County Labor Committee to Save-Our-State during the 1958 battle against the "Right-to-Work" Initiative.
Subseries C, State Right-to-Work Initiative (Pro/Con), includes booklets, correspondence, fact sheets, fliers, newspaper and magazine articles, position statements, press releases, seminar minutes, pamphlets, reports, and speeches related to the Employer-Employee Relations Initiative/"Right-to-Work."
Subseries D, National Right-to-Work Issues, Subject Files (A-Z), includes articles, books, brochures, correspondence, fliers, legislative bills, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases, programs, reports, and related documents collected by the Los Angeles County Committee to Save-Our-State on the National "Right-to-Work" Campaign. Each subseries is arranged alphabetically.
Subseries E, Photographic Material, consists primarily of images related to the No on Proposition 18 Campaign.