Theodore "Ted" R. Ellsworth Collection, 1878-2009 | Special Collections & Archives

Title: Theodore "Ted" R. Ellsworth Collection, 1878-2009

ID: URB/TRE

Extent: 5.29 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1950-1990

Arrangement

Abstract

Ted Ellsworth's activities as a health plan administrator and consultant, union representative and labor management arbitrator, educator, and activist for the aging ranged over a period of more than 45 years. The Ellsworth Collection documents his consulting and efforts on behalf of AB-1 on malpractice, his activities while affiliated with UCLA, transcripts of arbitration cases, and correspondence to and from Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen Harry Waxman, Anthony Beilenson, and Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and Medicare.

Creators

Ellsworth, Theodore R.

Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt Ellsworth’s activities as a health plan administrator and consultant, union representative, labor management arbitrator, educator, and activist for the aging ranged over a period of more than 45 years. Ellsworth was active in the Motion Picture Costumers Union Local 705 (I.A.T.S.E.), became the chapter's first President, and started the Costumer newsletter in 1941 for the benefit of members serving in WWII.

Ellsworth participated in local 705’s first negotiating committee, and served as Business Agent for local 705 from 1942 to 1952. Ellsworth was not a communist, but he opposed union-busting policy, and testified under Congressional immunity before the Kearns Committee. After helping to form the Motion Picture Health and Welfare Fund, Ellsworth became its first administrator and served from 1952-1958.

In the 1940s, John Anson Ford appointed Ellsworth to the Advisory Board on Aging (later the Los Angeles County Commission on Aging) where he served into the 1950s, including two terms as president. In 1957, he helped organize a congressional hearing in Los Angeles led by Congressman Jimmy Roosevelt that focused on problems of older workers.

Ellsworth was one of the first to receive UCLA’s Certificate in Industrial Relations in 1950. In 1958, he joined the Center for Labor Research and Education within the Institute of Industrial Relations where he functioned as Administrator of Public Programs and Associate Administrator of Labor Programs. From 1950 to 1958, Ellsworth taught UC extension classes in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara on labor history, health, welfare and pension plans, grievances, and arbitration. In the Fall of 1963, he also taught a University of California extension course at Roosevelt Jr. High in San Diego, titled Health, Welfare and Pension Plans.

Ellsworth was a member of the California Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Aging, President of the International Senior Citizens Association, President of the Senior Coalition Political Action Committee, co-founder of the Los Angeles County Affiliated Agencies on Aging, and Chairman of the Steering Committee, Alliance for Health Care Cost Containment. Ted was also Vice-Chairman of the California Commission on Aging, a member of the House Conference Committee on Aging, and was a representative to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging. He died of heart failure on April 26, 1996 at the age of 90.

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Scope and Contents:

The Theodore "Ted" R. Ellsworth Collection documents Ellsworth's consulting and efforts on behalf of AB-1 on malpractice, his activities while affiliated with UCLA, transcripts of arbitration cases, and correspondence to and from Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen Harry Waxman, Anthony Beilenson, and Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and Medicare.The collection is divided into five major series: Manuscripts, Speeches, and Personal Papers (1878-2009), Unions, Health Plan Administration, and Consulting (1954-1996), Conferences, Training, and Workshops (1948-1994), Arbitration (1972-1988), and Aging (1938-1995).

Series I, Manuscripts, Speeches, and Personal Papers, contains one folder dedicated to an extensive collection of biographical information in the form of resumes, news clippings, and lists of programs presented at UCLA from 1958-1962. In addition, there are personal papers and photographs related to Ellworth's academic and athletic career at Occidental College, his brief time in Cincinnati, Ohio, his political campaign, and the construction of his home in the Wonderland area of the Hollywood Hills. Ellsworth's friends and colleagues are also represented in this series, including some individuals affiliated with the Motion Picture Costumers Local 705, I.A.T.S.E.

Series II, Unions, Health Plan Administration, and Consulting, includes business papers, reports, health plans, fee schedules, financial statements, correspondence, news clippings, minutes, and handwritten notes. The series includes a notebook on the Health Plan Consultants Committee (HPCC), now the Southern California Association of Benefit Plan Administrators. Loose papers collected by Ellsworth representing general consulting activities or activities related to his efforts on behalf of AB-1 on malpractice are housed in separate folders. Items are arranged in folders alphabetically by organization or creator.

Series III, Conferences, Training, and Workshops documents Ellsworth's committee activities and courses he attended. Materials related to Ellsworth’s activities while affiliated with UCLA are arranged separately from those related to activities after his retirement or while working on projects that were not directly related to UCLA programs.

Series IV, Arbitration, includes transcripts of arbitration cases as well as correspondence and handwritten notes. Cases involve The Boys Market, Inc., UFCW, Local 770, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Los Angeles Police Department; Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., the Phoenix Mailers’ Union, Local 52; Safeway Stores, Inc., and UFCW, Local 770.

Series V, Aging, includes correspondence to and from Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen Harry Waxman, Anthony Beilenson, and Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and Medicare, as well as VHS tapes documenting aging related events and association history.

Finding Aid with Box List
Series I: Manuscripts, Speeches, and Personal Papers, 1878-2009
Series II: Unions, Health Plan Administration, and Consulting, 1954-1996
Series III: Conferences, Training, and Workshops, 1948-1994
Series IV: Arbitration, 1972-1988
Series V: Aging, 1938-1995