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AFT State Federations Records

 Collection
Identifier: LR000348_SF

Scope and Content

The majority of the materials in Series II are dated between 1945-1967 but some materials date back to 1922. The greatest percentage of the papers in this collection is correspondence between the state organizations and the national office. Other materials in this collection are state constitutions, lawsuits, legal decisions, state and federal legislation, speeches, pamphlets, salary information, histories, news releases, newspaper articles, union newspapers and convention programs.

Important subjects covered in the collection are: Board Teacher Relationships Salary Collective Bargaining State Legislation Right to Join a Union

Series Description: Series I, The State Organizations: These are the files concerned with the State Organizations.

Series II, The National Organization- The President's Office: This contains correspondence, "The President's Column", Presidential Reports and miscellaneous items that came from the President's Office between 1962-1966.

Series III, The National Organization- Speeches and Speech Material: This material is either speeches given by people from the national office or material they used to write the speeches.

Dates

  • 1922 - 1967

Creator

Language of Materials

Material entirely in English.

Access

Collection is open for research.

Use

Refer to the Walter P. Reuther Library Rules for Use of Archival Materials. Restrictions: Researchers may encounter records of a sensitive nature – personnel files, case records and those involving investigations, legal and other private matters. Privacy laws and restrictions imposed by the Library prohibit the use of names and other personal information which might identify an individual, except with written permission from the Director and/or the donor.

History

The American Federation of Teachers was founded in 1916. The union has been concerned with the development of professional recognition, better teaching conditions, civil rights and disadvantaged children as well as obtaining monetary objectives for teachers.

The State Federations are composed of the local unions of each state. The policy of the AFT is to have a conglomeration of locals to form a state federation, not to have all teachers join one state union.

Extent

8 Linear Feet (16 MB)

Abstract

Charter applications, clippings, correspondence, per capita reports, and notes from the various state federations of teachers to the national office. Topics covered include collective bargaining, membership drives, organizing of American teachers abroad, and school financing. Among the correspondents are Arthur Elder, William Green, and Hubert Humphrey. Series II and III contain materials from the President's office which include speeches, reports and correspondence.

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 series – Series 1 (Boxes 1-15), Series 2 (Box 15), and Series 3 (Boxes 15-16). Folders are arranged alphabetically and chronologically therein.

Acquisition

The State Federations of the American Federation of Teachers were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs in May of 1969 by the AFT.

Related Materials

AFT collections

Processing History

Processed and finding aid written by Walter P. Reuther Library in 1970. The material was reprocessed and a new guide written in May 1992.
Title
Guide to the AFT State Federations Records
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Walter P. Reuther Library.
Date
1970
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Walter P. Reuther Library Repository

Contact:
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit MI 48202 USA