Labor Resources - Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

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(updated 9-4-2009)

This bibliography contains selected materials relating to the study of labor and laborers. It reflects a sample of the holdings in the varied and extensive collections at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin. Check the University of Texas at Austin’s online catalog for call numbers of book materials and holdings of newspapers and periodicals.

Newspapers and Periodicals
Vertical Files
Labor and Laboring Classes
- Manuscript Collections
- Oral History Collections
- Book Materials
Labor Laws and Legislation
- Manuscript Collections
- Book Materials
Labor Relations
Labor Supply
Labor Unions
- Manuscript Collections
- Book Materials
Labor Unions – Women

Newspapers and Periodicals

Most holdings are incomplete. Check the Library Catalog for holdings information. Contact the reference staff for assistance with other newspapers which relate to communism, populism, and socialism.
HC=hardcopy, MF=microfilm.

Austin, Texas

Austin Forum–Advocate. May 4, 1933 MF, Oct. 18, 1934 HC
Austin Labor Journal. Apr. 26, 1929–May 3, 1933 MF, Sept. 2, Oct. 17, 1946 HC
The Industrial Bulletin. Texas Bureau of Labor Statistics. v.1–2, 1927–29 HC
Review. Texas State Federation of Labor. 1952–56 HC
Southern Labor. v.1, 1937 HC
State Week and Austin Forum–Advocate. Nov. 29, 1934–Apr. 5, 1937 HC
Texas Federationist. v.3–4, 1957 HC
Texas Labor Market. 1945–67 HC
Texas Labor Market Reviews. 1981–89 HC
Texas Manpower Trends. 1967–89 HC
Texas Migrant Labor. 1965–74 HC
Texas Migrant Labor Report. 1975 HC
Texas State AFL–CIO News. v. 1–35, 1957–89 HC

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont Labor News. July 29–Dec. 30, 1905 MF
The Exporter. v.1, 1934 HC

Center, Texas

Laborer’s Champion. Dec. 6, 1877, Feb. 21, 1878, Sept. 23, 1879 MF, Nov. 25, 1879 HC

Dallas, Texas

Craftsman. 1914 HC
Dallas Craftsman. July 19–Aug. 3, 1918 MF, Mar. 15, Apr. 26, 1940 HC
Southwest. Nov. 1928 MF

El Paso, Texas

El Paso City and County Labor Advocate. 1911–40 HC,
Jan. 3, 1941–Dec. 31, 1982 MF
Labor Advocate. Apr. 16,1948–Dec. 31, 1954 HC,
Jan. 1980–Dec. 1985 MF

Fort Worth, Texas

Labor News. Dec. 4, 1947–Jan. 19, 1950 HC
Union Banner. Jan. 6, 1943–May 28, 1954 MF

Galveston, Texas

Texas Union Workman. Aug. 19, 1893 MF
Union Review. Aug. 2, 9, 1946 HC, Sept. 4, 1936 MF

Houston, Texas

Houston Labor Echo. May 14, 1887 HC
Houston Labor Journal. Feb. 15, 1908–Apr. 7, 1939, Jan. 27, 1956–Aug. 15, 1958 MF
Houston Labor Messenger. Dec. 19, 1930–Dec. 21, 1951 HC, Jan. 25, 1952–Jan. 13, 1956 MF
Industrial Peace. 1941–42 HC
Negro Labor News. Dec. 22, 1934–May 4, 1968 MF
Texas Survey of Politics, Labor and Industry. 1945 HC
Union Guide. Oct. 7, 1909–Dec. 15, 1910 HC
Voice of the Gulf. Apr. 10, 1937 HC

Hughes Springs, Texas

Laborer. Aug. 17, 1906 MF

Laredo, Texas

El Defensor del obrero. v. 1, 1906/07 HC

Marshall, Texas

Labor’s Voice. June 16, 1916 HC

San Angelo, Texas

San Angelo Labor News. Jan. 30, 1904 HC

San Antonio, Texas

AFL–CIO Weekly Dispatch. June 27, 1958–Oct. 1, 1965 MF
Alamoner. Mar. 27, 1886 MF
Weekly Dispatch. Aug. 15, 1901–June 20, 1958 MF

Waco, Texas

Waco Farm and Labor Journal. 1932–61, v.78–83, 1986/87–1989/90 HC
Waco Labor Journal. v.76–77, 1982–86 HC

Vertical Files

The vertical files contain newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and other ephemera, and are divided into subject and biography divisions. If a heading can be found in both vertical file and scrapbook formats, it is noted below.

Acreman, Harry W. (Texas Labor Leader) – General Bio.

Adkins, Grady (Dallas Labor Leader) – General Bio.

Aikin, W. Morris (Texas Labor Leader) – General Bio.

Child Labor – Subject

Employee Grievances – UT – Subject

Farm Workers – Subject

Flynn, Jack (1875–1934, Texas Labor Commissioner, Boxing and Wrestling Supporter) – General Bio.

Labor & Laboring Classes – Subject

Labor Unions – Subject

Marshall, Ray (UT Economics Professor; Labor Secretary under President Jimmy Carter) – General Bio.

Migrant Labor – Subject Vertical file and Scrapbook

Rodriguez, Joe (Texas migrant farm worker who won a scholarship to Pan American College) – General Bio

Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union – Subject

Steen, Lias Brown “Bubba” (Commissioner of the Dept. of Labor and Standards; Texas Employment commission) – General Bio.

Texas Department of Labor and Standards – Subject

Texas Labor Archives – Subject

Texas State Employees Union – Subject

Texas United Farm Workers – Subject

Tubbs, Vincent (Founding member of Delta Phi Delta journalism fraternity; first black to head to Hollywood film union) – General Bio

University Employees Union – Subject

Labor and Laboring Classes

Manuscript Collections

Ruth Alice Allen Papers, 1943–1946, 1971, 1973. (9 in.)

Ruth Alice Allen, University of Texas professor of economics, 1923–1959, who authored several books on the history of labor, particularly in Texas, died in 1979. Some materials relate to the 1944 firing of University of Texas president Homer P. Rainey by the board of regents, the ensuing actions of the faculty, and the issue of academic freedom. One group of papers consists of academic research notes and drafts of literary productions on Thomas A. Hickey and the history of labor and socialism in Texas by Ruth A. Allen.

Bread and Roses School for Socialist Education Archive, 1975–1979. (7.5 ft.)

The Bread and Roses School for Socialist Education was formed in Austin, Texas, in 1975 to promote an anti–capitalist left wing agenda as an alternative to mainstream ideology. Materials include newsletters and educational materials from around the world and are arranged with a public education focus.

John Alton Burdine Papers, 1900, 1925–1967 [U.S. Civil Service Commission] (35 ft., 11 in.)

Papers document the career of Burdine (1905–1967) educator and administrator at The University of Texas who served as government professor, vice–president (under president Homer P. Rainey) and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1958–1967). Papers also pertain to Burdine’s committee work for private organizations and governmental agencies such as the American Political Science Association, the Federal Security Agency, and the Civil Services Commission. Included are correspondence, reports, student records, newspaper clippings, diary, financial records, notes, teaching materials, speeches, literary productions, legal papers, proceedings, and photographs. Student records in 3F447, 451, and 452 are restricted.

Frances Tarlton Farenthold Papers, 1913–2008. (92 ft. 2 in.)

Lawyer, member of the Texas Legislature (1968–1972); twice candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination (1972 and 1974); first female nominated as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. vice presidency (1972); first female president of Wells College in Aurora, New York (1976–1980). Papers consist of legal, political, and personal correspondence; legal, political, legislative, and committee files; newsletters, reports, and bulletins; research material; newspaper clippings; maps; other documents related to issues and concerns of Farenthold’s constituents and herself; videocassettes; audiotapes; photographs.

James Leonard, Jr. and Lula Peterson Farmer Papers, 1908 (1921–1999). (46 ft., 1 in.)

Civil rights leader, author, labor organizer, and teacher, James Leonard Farmer, Jr. was born on January 12, 1920, in Marshall, Texas. Farmer went on to found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) which played a key role in the Civil Rights movement, particularly in launching the Freedom Rides in the summer of 1961. These bus rides tested the federal interstate transportation accommodations at bus terminals. Combined with other CORE non–violent acts, the Freedom Rides led in part to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Bill of 1964, and to the Civil Rights Voting Act the following year. Farmer is widely recognized as one of the Civil Rights movement’s “Big Four,” along with Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, and Whitney Young of the National Urban League. The Farmer Collection documents the Farmers’ professional and personal involvement in the U.S. civil rights movement and four organizations founded by James Farmer, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Also included are: materials relating to Farmer’s unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1968 and his tenure as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1969–1970); correspondence relating to lecture engagements; literary productions; and personal papers relating to the Farmer and Peterson families.

James Edward Ferguson Collection, 1911–1936. (7 in.)

Collection concerning James E. Ferguson was assembled by Alex Dienst, Texana collector and Ferguson’s friend, and primarily documents Ferguson’s political career and the controversy over his activities as governor. Included is material relating to Governor Ferguson’s impeachment in 1917 and to his wife, Miriam Ferguson (governor 1924–1926 and 1932–1934).

Richard M. Morehead Papers, 1903 (1922–1995). (51 ft.)

Born November 16, 1913, at Plainview, Texas, Richard M. Morehead received his Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas in 1935. He then worked as a reporter for the United Press International until 1942, when he became the Dallas Morning News Austin correspondent and later bureau chief until 1979. Morehead was the Texas correspondent for the Southern Education Reporting Service from 1954–1968 and the legislative correspondent for the Southern Regional Education Board in 1981. Morehead won numerous awards for his political reporting and for his coverage of the public school integration issues. He died Jan. 31, 2003. Correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, literary productions, reports, speeches, pamphlets, periodicals, books, photographs and programs comprise the papers of noted Texas journalist Richard M. Morehead.

Paul B. Ragsdale Papers, 1972–1987. (37 ft., 7 in.)

Born in 1945, Paul B. Ragsdale was one of the first African American legislators in Texas since Reconstruction. Growing up the son of a barber in a rural area near Jacksonville, Texas, Ragsdale went on to earn a sociology degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He was elected to represent Dallas as a democrat in the 1972 state elections. A champion of African American and Hispanic rights, Ragsdale fought racial bias in the workplace and played an active role in state politics. In 1973 he applied for food stamps to protest his $4,800 annual pay as a legislator. Papers of Paul B. Ragsdale consist of classified files assembled when he was Texas state representative from Dallas (1973–1986).

Texas Unemployment Compensation Commission Papers, 1936–1937. (1.5 in.)

Business and legal forms, reports, pamphlets and printed material relating to report by James V. Allred’s gubernatorial committee on unemployment compensation; ensuing legislative act; administrative rules regarding the act. Persons associated include R. B. Anderson. Papers relate to government.

Oral History Collections

Caldwell County Oral History Collection. (220 90-minute tapes.)

Tapes result of a project sponsored by the Voluntary Action Council of Caldwell County and funded by the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Approximately 200 elderly persons of Caldwell County were interviewed by local volunteers and tape-recorded on the history of the county. No inventory currently exists for this collection, but there is an index of persons interviewed in the holding record. Tapes are housed in boxes 2X15 through 2X19.

Coleman–Fulton Pasture Company Oral History Collection, 1872–1933, 1961. (50 ft.10 in.)

Records concern the formation, development, and liquidation of the Coleman–Fulton Pasture Company (1872–1928), which began as a cattle–raising venture in South Texas and expanded into auxiliary businesses such as meat packing plant, blacksmith shop, and lumber company. Rincon Ranch was headquarters for the company, which owned 167,000 acres by 1900. Records include correspondence, minutes of stockholders and directors meetings, stock transactions, financial records, ranch journals, store journals, land surveys and deeds, court records, and contracts. Also included are tape-recorded oral histories made in 1961 of people associated with the company.

Jane Hannemann “Today’s Pioneer Women” Oral Histories, 1984–1985. (1 ft.)

Collection consists of 33 oral history interviews conducted by actress Jane Hannemann with women ranging in age from 70 years to the mid-90s in Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, in preparation for a one–woman performance about “Pioneer Women.” Documenting their lives as homemakers, ranchers, and teachers on the High Plains, the interviews include both transcriptions and 25 audio cassette tapes.

Oral History of the Texas Oil Industry, 1952–1958.

This major collection documenting the development of the Texas oil industry includes taped interviews of oral reminiscences and large quantities of written materials. The 218 interviews record the memories of pioneers in all phases of oil fields and oil booms—roughnecks, drillers, promoters, financiers, contractors, leasemen and law officers. These tapes have been transcribed and indexed for subjects that were deemed appropriate for use by historians, folklorists, linguists, sociologists and genealogists.

Penzoil–Texaco Dispute Oral History Project, 1990–1993. (4 ft., 6 in.)

Portions of this collection are restricted. Consult reference staff for further information. The project consists of 41 interviews including interviews with 23 people associated with Pennzoil, ten with Getty, two with Texaco, and seven who were unaffiliated during the conflict. Abstracts of many of the interviews emphasize why each individual was selected, the company with which they worked and their moment of particular involvement in or point of contact with the Pennzoil-Texaco-Getty conflict. For most of the interviews, transcriptions and tapes are available to researchers.

UT Folklore Center Archives, ca. 1928–1981. (101 ft.)

The University of Texas Folklore Center Archives was established in 1957 and initially contained recordings collected by folklorists such as John A. Lomax, William A. Owens, John Henry Faulk, Norman McNeil, and Americo Paredes. Subsequently, other collections of recordings were added, and manuscript copies of student projects were retained as part of the archives beginning around 1962. In 1985 the collection was transferred from the UT Folklore Center to the Barker Texas History Center, now a section of the Center for American History. The UT Folklore Center Archives includes approximately 57 feet of tapes (reels and audiocassettes) concerning a broad range of topics dealt with both in music and by the spoken word. Contact repository for inventory or to arrange appointment to use audio recordings.

Voices of American Homemakers Oral Histories, 1983. (2 ft.)

Collection consists of sound recordings and transcriptions of 200 oral histories by women throughout the U. S. describing homemaking, child rearing, and family management in small towns and rural areas. Collection prepared by the National Extension Homemakers Council. The collection is arranged alphabetically by the name of the state. Each state received one free copy of the collection and the Texas copy resides at the Center for American History. Housed in box numbers 2X29 through 2X32.

Book materials

Coalson, George O. The Development of the Migratory Farm Labor System in Texas, 1900–1954. San Francisco, CA.: R & E Research Associates, 1977.

Goodenow, George. Rights of Workingmen in Texas. Houston, Texas: s.n., 1941.

Guild, Curtis. Address of Curtis Guild: the Eight Hour Day for Children Under Sixteen: Boston, December 4, 1913. Boston: Massachusetts Child Labor Committee, 1913.

Hodgson, Adam. A Letter to M. Jean–Baptiste Say, On the Comparative Expense of Free and Slave Labour. New York: Mahlon Day, 1823.

Kinsey, Winston Lee. Negro Labor in Texas, 1865–1876. Baylor University Thesis (M.A.), 1965.

Lanfear, Vincent W. Business Fluctuations and the American Labor Movement, 1915–1922. New York: Columbia Univ., 1924.

McConnell, Franz M. The Rights and Obligations of Labor According to the Bible. Dallas, Texas: Storm Publishing Co., 1937.

McCoy, A. D. Thoughts on Labor in the South, Past, Present and Future. New Orleans: Blelock & Co., 1865.

Potts, Charles S. The Convict Labor System of Texas. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1903.

Reisler, Mark. By the Sweat of Their Brow: Mexican Immigrant Labor in the United States, 1900–1940. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976.

Ruffin, Edmund. Slavery and Free Labor Described and Compared. n.p.: s.n., 1860?

Scruggs, Otey M. Braceros, “Wetbacks,” and the Farm Labor Problem: Mexican Agricultural Labor in the United States, 1942–1954. New York: Garland Publishing, 1988.

United States. Work Projects Administration. The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio: the Problem of Underpaid and Unemployed Mexican Labor. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1940.

Women in the Texas Workforce: Yesterday and Today. Austin, Texas: 1979.

Working Lives: the Southern Exposure History of Labor in the South. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.

Working-men’s Convention (1833: Boston, Mass.). Proceedings of the Working-men’s Convention. Boston: s.n., 1833.

Labor Laws and Legislation

Manuscript Collections

Tom Connally Papers, 1924–1952. (1 ft., 3 in.)

Papers of Connally (1877–1963), who represented Texas in the U. S. House of Representatives (1919–1929) and the U. S. Senate (1929–1952), primarily document his personal life in the 1940s and contain the 1952 announcement of his retirement from the Senate. Included are personal and political correspondence as well as financial records. Speeches, newspaper clippings, and printed material relate to his service as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as delegate to the 1945 meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco.

Eugene Victor Debs Papers, 1884–1941. (2 in.)

Papers concern the career and political activities of Eugene V. Debs and consist primarily of the correspondence of Debs and his brother Theodore with Frank X. Holl, a union organizer for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Papers also relate to the family of Frank X. Holl, including his wife Anne (Love) Holl, and her brother W. A. Love.

National Cotton Compress and Cotton Warehouse Association Records, 1933–1970. (45 ft., 10 in.)

The association, based in Memphis, Tennessee, was founded to represent cotton companies and warehouse operators on a national level in dealing with legislation, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the progress of cotton research. Records include correspondence, press releases, charter, by-laws, reports, contracts, resolutions, membership records, bulletins, committee records, technical research, records of annual meetings and hearings, notebooks, and legislative acts. A few photographs are included in reports located in the classified files (2D4 and 2D6), and some items are photocopies.

Texas State Federation of Labor Records, 1910–1961. (3 ft., 9 in.)

Documents include court records, correspondence, bills, reports, newsletters, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, notices, and speeches related to the Federation or its member unions; bulk is court records and correspondence concerning legal cases. Monthly reports with bills from Mullinax, Wells and Ball law firm review legal actions and other developments arising from state and federal restrictions on union activity. Correspondents include Harry W. Acreman, Paul C. Sparks, and Jerry R. Holleman, Federation executive officers, 1948–1954. Subject files include information on labor law and organizing; race relations; migrant workers; the anti-communist movement; Grady Ivy, Dallas ironworker imprisoned under the O’Daniel Act; Southern Sugar Strike, 1955; and relations with CIO, reflected in materials of the Texas State Industrial Union Council. Court records document the 1950 Brown and Root, Inc., suit against the Federation and 91 member locals for restraint of trade under Texas’ 1947 right-to-work law; picketing rights; working conditions; union representation; wage scales; and discriminatory discharge. Seven cases involve Teamsters locals.

Book materials

The Howell-Barkley Labor Bill; Address of J.H. Tallichet Before the Traffic Club, of Houston, Texas. Houston?, Texas: 1924.

Labor-Management Relations in Texas; a Layman’s Summary of Applicable State Laws. Dallas, Texas: Prepared for the Members of the Texas Pharmaceutical Association, 1947.

Reese, Lela May. Legislation Affecting Women in the Industries. University of Texas Thesis (B.B.A.), 1923. Located in Library Storage Facility.

Rogan, Octavia F. List by Caption of Statutory Labor Bills Introduced in the Texas Legislature and of Constitutional Provisions, 1845–1926. Austin?, Texas: 192?.

Texas Laws Concerning Payment of Wages, Hours of Female Employees, Employment of Children, Health, Safety and Morals… Austin, Texas: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1939–1947.

Texas. Legislature. Penitentiary Investigating Committee. Report of the Penitentiary Investigating Committee Including All Exhibits and Testimony Taken by the Committee. Austin, Texas, 1910.

Labor Relations

Manuscript Collections

Oscar Branch Colquitt Papers, 1873–1941. (45 ft., 6 in.)

Texas state senator (1895–1899); Texas railroad commissioner (1903–1911); governor of Texas (1910–1915); U.S. Senate candidate (1916); member of the United States Board of Mediation (1929–1933); representative of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1935–1940). Newspaperman and lawyer. Papers concern Colquitt’s career and political activities and include correspondence, letterpresses, scrapbooks, speeches, photographs, reports, campaign materials, voting records, bills and resolutions, financial documents, reference files, and genealogical materials about the Burkhalter family.

Eugene Victor Debs Papers, 1884–1941. (2 in.)

James Edward Ferguson Collection, 1911–1936. (7 in.)

Labor Movement in Texas Collection, 1845–1954. (4 ft., 7 in.)

Documents include correspondence, transcripts, newspaper clippings, newsletters, notes, interviews and manuscripts resulting from research begun in 1936 under Bureau of Research in Social Sciences, University of Texas, by Economics Professor Ruth Allen (1889–1979) into history of organized labor in Texas. Bulk covers three industries: railroad, emphasis on 1886 Southwest Rail Strike and leader Martin Irons; longshore, predominantly early union organizing in Galveston, with Negro locals, Gulf Coast strikes (1885–1939), and maritime organizations; and oil, with organizing of Houston–area refineries. Papers document organizing of paper industry workers, Pasadena, by United Mine Workers of America and of clothing workers, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, by International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union; Knights of Labor in Texas, Kansas, and Missouri; coal miners’ strike, Thurber; Mexican American pecan shellers and clothing workers; and Texas 1930s political turmoil around labor issues.

Oral History of the Texas Oil Industry, 1952–1958.

This major collection documenting the development of the Texas oil industry includes taped interviews of oral reminiscences and large quantities of written materials. The 218 interviews record the memories of pioneers in all phases of oil fields and oil booms––roughnecks, drillers, promoters, financiers, contractors, leasemen and law officers. These tapes have been transcribed and indexed for subjects that were deemed appropriate for use by historians, folklorists, linguists, sociologists and genealogists.

Southwestern Ice Manufacturers’ Association Records, 1913–1964. (16 ft., 1 in.)

Records relate to the management and operation of the association and contain technical information on the manufacture of ice and the building of ice plants, legislation concerning the regulation of the ice industry and labor relations, marketing and advertising plans, and proceedings of conventions and conferences. Stored off–site; 72 hours notice required for retrieval.

The Great Southwest Strike Clippings, 1882–1889. (25 items.)

Great Southwest Strike, clippings concerned with the railroad strike of 1882–1889

Texas State Federation of Labor Records, 1910–1961. (3 ft., 9 in.)

Ruthe Winegarten Papers, 1912–2004. (108 ft., 2 in.)

Research materials, correspondence and production materials for books and theatrical productions concerning African American women, Texas women, Hispanic women and Texas politics.

Labor Supply

Book Materials

Marshall, F. Ray. Human Resource Development in Rural Texas. Austin, Texas: Center for the Study of Human Resources, University of Texas, 1974.

Texas Employment Commission. Changing Horizons: a Profile of Jobs to 1980 (Austin, Texas): Employment Projections by Specific Industries and Occupations. Austin, Texas: 1975.

Texas Employment Commission. [City name] Labor Market. For example, El Paso Labor Market. v.2–20, 1947–1965 incomplete. Houston Labor Market. v.2–20, 1947–1965 incomplete. Located in Library Storage Facility.

Texas Employment Commission. Industry and Occupational Projections to the Year 2000: Texas Employment Commission Economic Research and Analysis. Austin, Texas: 1992.

Texas. Legislature. Senate. Committee on State Affairs. Workforce Development Subcommittee. A Quality Workforce: the Premier Chip in a High-stakes Game: a Staff Report to the Workforce Development Subcommittee. Austin, Texas: 1992.

Till, Thomas E. Stages of Industrial Development and Poverty Impact in Nonmetropolitan Labor Markets of the South: Final Report. Austin, Texas: Center for the Study of Human Resources, University of Texas, 1975.

Labor Unions

Manuscript Collections

American Federation of Labor see Labor Movement in Texas Collection, 1845–1943

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists see Faulk, John Henry Versus Aware, Inc., Laurence A. Johnson and Vincent Hartnett Case Records, 1947–1968

James W. Biard Papers, 1882–1913. (1 in.)

Papers primarily concern Farmer’s Alliance and Populist activities in Lamar County, Texas, and include material on the national movements as well as personal correspondence.

William Samuel Carter Papers, 1935. (30 items.)

Correspondence, newspaper clipping, and biographical narrative concern the career of Carter (1859–1923), labor–magazine editor and railroad–union official. Papers relate to efforts of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen to secure information on Carter for preparation of a memorial for him and include information about his activities as railroad fireman, as editor of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen’s Magazine (1895–1903), as labor secretary–treasurer (1904–1908) and president (1909–1922) of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, and as director of the division of labor of the United States Railway Administration (1918).

Centennial Farmers Alliance No. 3344 Records, 1886–1895. (1 vol.)

Records include accounts, minutes, membership lists, and quarterly report of the Centennial Farmers Alliance No. 3344 of Bell County.

Byron and Rannie Cook Papers, 1944–1962. (7 in.)

Papers document the Cooks’ participation in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Progressive Party and the United States Postal Service National Alliance of Postal Employees. Document types included correspondence and newspaper clippings.

Dallas Teamsters’ Union, Local No. 745 see Texas State Federation of Labor Records, 1910–1961

Eugene Victor Debs Papers, 1884–1941. (2 in.)

Farm Workers’ Strike Banner, ca. 1967. (Artifact measuring 36″ x 38″.)

Red burlap banner with eagle profile of black cotton fabric on large circle of off–white cotton fabric. One of the banners used c. 1967 when University of Texas students and several faculty members traveled to Rio Grande City to bring food and clothing to striking farm workers participating in La Huelga (Farm Workers’ Strike).

James Leonard, Jr. and Lula Peterson Farmer Papers, 1908 (1921–1999). (46 ft., 1 in.)

Civil rights leader, author, labor organizer, and teacher, James Leonard Farmer, Jr. was born on January 12, 1920, in Marshall, Texas. Farmer went on to found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) which played a key role in the Civil Rights movement, particularly in launching the Freedom Rides in the summer of 1961. These bus rides tested the federal interstate transportation accommodations at bus terminals. Combined with other CORE non-violent acts, the Freedom Rides led in part to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Bill of 1964, and to the Civil Rights Voting Act the following year. Farmer is widely recognized as one of the Civil Rights movement’s “Big Four,” along with Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, and Whitney Young of the National Urban League. The Farmer Collection documents the Farmers’ professional and personal involvement in the U.S. civil rights movement and four organizations founded by James Farmer, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Also included are: materials relating to Farmer’s unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1968 and his tenure as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1969–1970); correspondence relating to lecture engagements; literary productions; and personal papers relating to the Farmer and Peterson families.

Farmer’s Alliance see Bell County Alliance Records, 1889–1897

Gillespie County Alliance Minutes, 1886–1896. (1 vol.)

Original manuscript minute book of the Gillespie County Alliance, with loose receipts and a few letters between the pages, all concerned with Alliance matters. The Alliance was part of the Southern Farmers’ Alliance. Found in Box 2D211.

Charles W. Macune Narrative, ca. 1964. (1 item.)

“Biographical Sketch of C. W. Macune”

John B. Rushing Papers, 1874–1913. (5 in.)

Contains information about The Grange, The Farmers Alliance, The Friends of Temperance and the personal and political letters of J. W. H. Davis. Found in Box 2D211.

Texas Farmers Alliance Records, 1880, 1891, 1895, 1907, 1963, 1985.

Newspaper clippings and letters concerning the Farmers’ Alliance.

Galveston (Texas) Screwmen’s Benevolent Association Records, 1866–1922. (3 ft.)

Minutes, constitution, volumes of records of the Association, later known as the Longshoremen’s Benevolent Union.

Galveston Typographical Union Records, 1860–1932. (1 ft., 2 in.)

Records of the office of the Secretary-Treasurer, including minutes, chapter rules, charter and annual program.

International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union see International Ladies’ Garment Workers Versus Dorothy Frocks Company Records, 1936

Labor Movement in Texas Collection, 1845–1954. (4 ft., 7 in.)

Longshoremen’s Benevolent Union see Galveston Screwmen’s Benevolent Association Records, 1866–1922

Charles Wright Mills Papers, 1934–1965. (36 ft., 8 in.)

Typescripts and drafts, notes, notebooks and journals, research reports by American sociologist Mills and others, survey instruments and tables of survey results, correspondence, reviews and clippings from newspapers and journals document the academic, professional and personal interests of C. Wright Mills, from his days as a University of Texas undergraduate during the 1930s until his death in 1962. The collection includes typescripts and mimeographed drafts of his books in various stages of completion, as well as drafts of articles, speeches and reviews. The bulk of the collection consists of newspaper and magazine clippings organized by subject or by project, many with underlining and written comments by Mills.

National Alliance of Postal Employees see Cook (Byron and Rannie) Papers, 1944–1972

Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union see Pellusch (Jana) Papers, 1969–1990

Oral History of the Texas Oil Industry, 1952–1958.

Pecan Shellers Union see People’s History in Texas Records, 1975–1986; Labor Movement in Texas Collection, 1845–1943; and San Antonio (Texas) Express, 1934.

Jana Pellusch Papers, 1969–1990.

Correspondence, audio tapes, F. B. I. files, printed materials and literary productions relating to Ms. Pellusch’s interest and participation as a member in various organizations relating to women’s and political rights, The Socialist Workers’ Party and in opposition to U. S. involvement in Vietnam and nuclear testing and armaments.

People’s History in Texas Records, 1976–2005. (44 ft., 3 in., includes videotapes)

This diverse collection contains a wide range of materials relating to topics such as Texas labor unions, women in Texas history, the 1938 Hot Oil War in East Texas, and the records of the People’s History in Texas organization. Much of the collection centers on oral history audio and video projects overseen by organization leaders Melissa Hield and Jim Cullers. Among the topics represented in the records are: hunger in America, workers’ rights, environmental protection, nuclear weapons protests, police brutality, Texas literature (including John Henry Faulk), prison reform, and the Montopolis community in Austin, Texas.

Prints and Photographs Collection – Panoramics (3T407c)

Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) Records, 1980–1981. (unprocessed)

Artifacts include t-shirts, campaign buttons, a cigarette lighter, name tag for PATCO member Doug Griffin, and film “No Margin for Error.”

Steve Russell and Donna Mobley Papers, ca. 1970–1994.

Russell was a municipal judge who worked in the area of discrimination and rights. His wife Donna Mobley was a union organizer and worked on issues of women’s rights, clean government and the environment. Documents in their collection relate to labor organizing, the Cornell School of Labor Relations, Common Cause, Public Servant Standards of Conduct Advisory Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, United Farm Workers, Texas Indian Bar Association, family violence and Amnesty International.

Mrs. Walter B./Estelle Boughton Sharp Papers, 1899–1937. (3 ft., 4 in.)

Correspondence, notes, lists, land papers, legal papers, resolutions, opinions, receipts, insurance policies, account papers, invitations, calling cards, clippings, directories, and photographs of Estelle Boughton (Mrs. Walter B.) Sharp. Papers concern Mrs. Sharp’s activities as a member of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Advisory Board of the Volunteer Prison League, the Federal Food Administration Executive Committee, the War Work Council, the National League for Woman’s Service, and the League of Women Voters. Included are directories of women’s organizations and lists of members, political clippings, and printed material concerning social welfare, child guidance, the Democratic Party, food rationing, agriculture, education, The University of Texas, Russian famine relief, Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Places associated with the papers include Santa Barbara, California; and Dallas and Houston. Persons associated include R. E. Brooks, M. O. Bunton, W. T. Campbell, Josiah Evans Coles, M. Hetty Curry, John N. Deane, Jr., A. Caswell Ellis, H. Flateau, Florence Floore, Katie Friend, Martha Gano, Hastings H. Hart, Anna Hertzberger, William C. Hogg, Henry Jocoby, M. E. Lathrop, John R. Mott, C. S. Potts, Bedford Sharp, Dudley Sharp, Walter Benona Sharp, and E. R. Spotts. Papers relate to agriculture, cultural affairs, education, government, industry, politics, and social affairs.

Texas State Federation of Labor Records, 1910–1961. (3 ft., 9 in.)

United Farm Workers see Steve Russell and Donna Mobley Papers, ca. 1970–1994

Workers’ Alliance of San Antonio see Labor Movement in Texas Collection, 1845–1943

Book Materials

Agreement Between the Colored Firemen and the Management of the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railway Company. S.l.: s.n., 1925, 1929.

Allen, Ruth Alice. The Great Southwest Strike. Austin, Texas: University of Texas, 1942.

American Labor in the Southwest: the First One Hundred Years. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1982.

Coke, Richard. Labor and Arbitration: Speech of Hon. Richard Coke, of Texas, Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Tuesday, May 18, 1886. S.l.: s.n., 1886?

Fink, Leon. Upheaval in the Quiet Zone: a History of Hospital Workers’ Union, Local 1199. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

Hill, Charles J. A Brief History of I.L.A. Local 872; From the Files of Freemas Everett. Houston, Texas: International Longshoreman’s Association, 1960.

Texas and Pacific Railway Company. Agreement Between the Texas and Pacific Railway Company and Telegraphers and Certain Other Employees Thereon Represented. S.l.: s.n., 1928.

Labor Unions – Women

Manuscript Collections

International Ladies’ Garment Workers Versus Dorothy Frocks Company Records, 1936. (1 vol. Typescript.)

Petitions, briefs, appeals and other documents used in lawsuit of International Ladies Garment Workers Local Union No. 123, et al., vs. Dorothy Frocks Company (San Antonio). Persons associated include Robert Lee Bobbitt, Leonard Brown, Maxwell Burket, R. L. Guthrie, Sylvan Lang, Laurentina Maldonado, W. O. Murray, Mrs. Charles Schwartz, E. W. Smith, Rebecca Taylor, and Morris Wise.

Labor Movement in Taxes Collection, 1845–1943. (4 ft., 7 in.)

Steve Russell and Donna Mobley Papers, ca. 1970–1994.

Mrs. Walter B./Estelle Boughton Sharp Papers, 1899–1937. (3 ft., 4 in.)

Women’s Trade Union League see Mrs. Walter B./Estelle Boughton Sharp Papers, 1899–1937

Newspapers and Periodicals

Vertical Files

Labor and Laboring Classes

Manuscript Collections

Oral History Collections

Book materials

Labor Laws and Legislation

Manuscript Collections

Book materials

Labor Relations

Manuscript Collections

Labor Supply

Book Materials

Labor Unions

Manuscript Collections

Book Materials

Labor Unions – Women

Manuscript Collections

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