Center for Archival Collections

Introduction | Agency History | Scope and Content | Series Description | Inventory

Introduction

The records of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 32, date from 1942 to 1964 and consist of two linear feet of material, contained in four boxes. Included in the collection are three varieties of minutes--those of the Local itself, entitled Regular Minutes, those of the Executive Board, and the minutes of the Electrical Workers Benefit Association. Also contained in the collection are ledger books, dating from 1942 to 1951, which give information concerning the receipts and expenditures of the Local, and a few miscellaneous itesm, such as correspondence, resignations, nominations, stewards reports, and resolutions.

The records of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 32, were donated through the efforts of Paul Yon, Associate Director of the Center for Archival Collections, and Steve Gietschier, Labor Field Representative of the Ohio Historical Society, in June 1977. The collection was processed by Joanne Passet, of the CAC. Literary and property rights have been donated to the public, the result of a deed of gift. The register for the collection was prepared by David Spoon, graduate assistant in history in March 1982.

Agency History

Local 32 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, chartered in 1898, is a "mixed" local as membership includes inside wiremen, linemen, utility and telephone workers, and sign erectors. The Local represents electrical workers in five counties and seven townships in northwestern Ohio. In the entire history of the local there has never been a strike, although it has been quite active politically, usually supporting Democratic candidates. The only material that is published by the Local is a newsletter, which is distributed among the members.

The current offices (1997) for Local 32 are located at 1975 North West Street, Lima, Ohio \ 45801-2632. Mr. Dave Smith serves as business manager.

Scope and Content

The records of Local 32 provide the researcher with a good, albeit scattered, history of a northwestern Ohio labor organization. The most complete series within this collection are the regular minutes, which are complete from 1943 to 1964. These written records contain the names of the officers of the Local who were in attendance and the various matters that were discussed at each meeting. The discussions generally centered around voting on applications for membership or voting for officers of the Local. The regular minutes also contain other matters of business, such as approval of the payment of bills. The Executive Board minutes (1944 to 1964) mainly document requests and examinations for job reclassifications. The minutes of the Benefit Association (1957-1965) provide insight into the death care and death benefits offered to members and their families.

The next largest, and also quite complete, record series are the ledgers, of which there are two types. These consist of two volumes which contain information on the receipts and expenditures and five volumes that list each member's dues. The dues ledgers also contain information on the length of military service of the members. The researcher who is examining this series may be confused, initially, by the denotations "A" and "B" on the front of the two ledgers. These are merely the dues ledgers of those members whose card numbers begin with either "A" or "B."

The remaining portions of the collection contain items which, because of their incomplete nature, serve as examples of other series of records that one might encounter in a collection of this type. These documents consist of twelve pieces of correspondence, one Steward's Report, two resignations, one listing nominations for officers, one undated listing of officers, and two Resolutions by the Local on the event of the deaths of long-time members.

The early records (1898-1943) of this Local were destroyed in a flood, and the records since 1964 are being kept by the Local until they are microfilmed, at which time the originals will be transferred to the CAC. These records should be of interest to anyone engaged in research concerning the history of labor, especially at the local level.

Series Description

PROCEEDINGS

REGULAR MINUTES
July 19, 1943-May 25, 1964
Arranged chronologically
Contains the minutes of the regular meetings of Local 32.

EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES
July 10, 1944-September 9, 1964
Arranged chronologically
Contains the minutes of the Executive Board of Local 32, in which are found the votes on the acceptance or rejection of members' request for higher job classifications and the scores of the examinations for those job classifications.

EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES (SUPPLEMENTAL)
December 7, 1945; January 23, 1948; April 26, 1948; October 7, 1950; March 30, 1951; and May 16, 1955.
Arranged chronologically
Contains the minutes of the Executive Board that were, for some reason, not included above.

ELECTRICAL WORKERS BENEFIT ASSOCIATION MINUTES
December 2, 1957-October 18, 1965.
Arranged chronologically
Contains the minutes of this organization within the Local that was responsible for the payment of health and death benefits, and for the listing of all injured and sick members.

CORRESPONDENCE

OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE
1944, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1959, and 1963.
Arranged chronologically (scattered).
Most of the items within this series are letters from members requesting examinations to become journeymen.

OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE
1954, 1957
Arranged chronologically (scattered).
Of the two items in this series, one deals with the safety of a tool called the "Ram Set" which was being considered for use by a company in Kenton, Ohio.

REPORTS

STEWARD REPORT.
February 8, 1960.
This is the only example of a Steward Report in the entire collection. It consists of the investigation of a complaint about a member who was working in a position for which he was unqualified.

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS

LEDGER, RECEIPTS/EXPENDITURES
April 29, 1942-July 16, 1951.
Arranged chronologically
These ledgers contain listings of the money received by the Local, usually resulting from membership dues, and the expenditures of the Local for various social and organizational needs.

LEDGER, DUES
1943-1951.
Arranged chronologically
These are the records of the dues paid by each member. There also are contained within these ledgers information on each members' job and any benefits that may have been paid to each member by the local.

SCRAPBOOK MATERIALS

RESIGNATIONS.
1960, 1963.
Arranged chronologically
These are the letters of resignation of two members, William McKnight and M. S. Makin, who were resigning their positions as officers of the Local.

NOMINATION OF OFFICERS
June 2, 1958
This item is a listing of the names of members of the Local who were nominated for positions as officers.

OFFICERS OF I.B.E.W., LOCAL 32
n.d.
This is a listing of the officers of the Local at some point in its history.

RESOLUTIONS
November 134, 1951; n.d.
Arranged alphabetically.
These are proclamations by the Local on the event of the deaths of two members of Local 32, Charles Taborn and Arthur Thomas.

Inventory

Box 1

1. Minutes, regular, July 19, 1943-June 3, 1946
2. Minutes, regular, June 17, 1946-July 1, 1946
3. Minutes, regular, July 15, 1946-July 18, 1949
4. Minutes, regular, August 1, 1949-June 16, 1952
5. Minutes, regular, July 7, 1952-May 2, 1955
6. Minutes, regular, May 16, 1955-March 3, 1958

Box 2

1. Minutes, regular, March 17, 1958-January 16, 1961
2. Minutes, regular, February 6, 1961-May 25, 1964
3. Minutes, Executive Board, July 10, 1944-September 9, 1964
4. Minutes, Executive Board (Supplemental), December 7, 1945; January 23, 1948; April 26, 1948; October 7, 1950; March 30, 1951; and May 16, 1955
5. Minutes, Electrical Workers Benefit Association, December 2, 1957-October 18, 1965
6. Correspondence, incoming (10 pieces), 1944, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1963
7. Correspondence, outgoing (2 pieces), 1954, 1957
8. Ledger, receipts/expenditures, April 29, 1942-February 19, 1945

Box 3

1. Ledger, receipts/expenditures, March 5, 1945-July 16, 1951
2. Ledger, dues, 1943-1945
3. Ledger, dues, 1946-1948
4. Ledger, dues (A members), 1946-1948

Box 4

1. Ledger, dues, 1949-1951
2. Ledger, dues, (B members), 1949-1951
3. Steward report, February 8, 1960
4. Resignations of William McKnight (1960) and M. S. Makin (1963), 1960, 1963
5. Nomination of Officers, June 2, 1958
6. Officers of I.B.E.W., Local 32, n.d.
7. Resolution regarding: death of Charles Taborn, November 13, 1951
8. Resolution regarding: death of Arthur Thomas, n.d.

Manuscripts by Subject | Labor Collections