Skowronek Family papers, approximately 1920-2015

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Skowronek (Family : Emil Skowronek : 1920-1979)
Title
Skowronek Family papers
Dates
approximately 1920-2015 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.86 cubic feet (6 boxes and one oversize folder)
Collection Number
5849
Summary
Papers of the Emil Skowronek family and former University of Washington faculty member Felix Skowronek
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Emil Skowronek (aka Clark) (1904-1993) was born in Poland and immigrated to the United States as a young boy. Skowronek graduated high school in Tacoma. As a young man, Skowronek worked as a logger on the Olympic Peninsula for five years to fund his education at Washington State University, where he was a member of the wrestling team. While he worked as a logger, he was radicalized by the Industrial Workers of the World. Skowronek was a member of the Communist Party USA and served as a left wing labor organizer who (according to family lore) helped found the Seattle Ship Scaler's union in 1936. Skowronek later became a ship rigger in the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers, Local 104 (Seattle, Washington) and served as a business agent in the union. During World War II, Skowronek served in the merchant marine, where he was involved in the Battle of Okinawa. He lost his seamen's clearance for his political affiliations during the "Red Scare" of the 1950s, but was able to regain it.

Skowronek married Edna Theodosia Bundry in 1935. Edna Theodosia Skowronek (1903-1976), graduated in 1932 with Bachelor's of Science in nursing from the University of Washington. She worked as a registered nurse.

Theodosia Skowronek "Theo" Nassar (1939-), Emil and Edna's daughter, recieved her BA in Sociology from Washington State University and her MS in Teaching/Communications from Gonzaga University, working as a caseworker at Eastern State Mental Hospital and a copywriter and journalist in Spokane before moving to Los Angeles to become a screenwriter for ten years.

Felix Skowronek (1935-2006), Emil and Edna's son, played principal flute for the Seattle Symphony from 1956–1957 and 1959–1960. Skowronek also played in the Seventh Army Symphony from 1957–1959, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra 1960–1966, and St. Louis Symphony 1966–1968, and was a member of the Casals Festival Orchestra in Puerto Rico and was a founding member of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet. He became a member of the faculty of the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, followed by the University of Washington, where he taught for 38 years, and served as president of the National Flute Association and Seattle Flute Society. He was a leading figure in the revival of wooden Boehm-style flutes in the USA and an expert in the use of various hardwoods in flute manufacturing.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Family papers, including correspondence, news clippings, handwritten family history, valentines, photographs, textbooks, sheet music, a diary, screenplays, documents on nursing, book Un-American Girl by Theo Skowronek-Nassar, cassette tape interview with Emil Skowronek, FOIA documents related to loss of clearence, a DVD of Theo Skowronek-Nassar's film "Flute wood make" about Felix Skowronek and flute-maker Alex Eppler, ephemera, and other materials.

Also includes materials related to the Boilermaker's Union, including proceeding book for an international convention, clippings, retirement account information, mailings, and ephemera.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Portions of creator's literary rights retained. Contact Special Collections for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Organized into 2 accessions.

  • Accession No. 5849-001, Skowronek family papers, circa 1920s-1970s
  • Accession No. 5849-002, Skowronek Family papers, 1942-2015

Acquisition Information

Theodosia "Theo" Skowronek-Nassar

Related Materials

Felix Skowronek papers (manuscript collection 6413)

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Accession No. 5849-001: Skowronek family papers, circa 1920s-1970sReturn to Top

6.4 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Scope and Content: Family papers, book Un-American Girl by Theo Skowronek-Nassar, cassette tape interview with Emil Skowronek, clipping, valentines, photographs, letters, screenplays, sheet music, and DVD about Felix Skowronek, textbooks, clippings, boilermaker materials, FOIA papers, ephemera, sheet music, diary, photographs, and documents on nursing.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Portions of creator's literary rights retained. Contact Special Collections for details.

Acquisition Info: Theo Nassar [birth name: Theodosia Skowronek], 2014-05-28

Container(s) Description
Box Accession
1 5849-001
Family papers, book Un-American Girl by Theo Skowronek-Nassar, cassette tape interview with Emil Skowronek, clipping, valentines, photographs, letters, screenplays, sheet music, and DVD about Felix Skowronek.
Scope and Content:
2 5849-001
Textbooks, clippings, rolled photographs, boilermaker materials, FOIA papers and ephemera.
Scope and Content:
3 5849-001
Letters of the Skowronek family.
Scope and Content:
4 5849-001
Sheet music, diary, textbooks, reports, photographs, clippings and documents on nursing.
Scope and Content:
5 5849-001
Newspaper clippings and letters.
Scope and Content:

Accession No. 5849-002: Skowronek Family papers, 1942-2015Return to Top

0.46 cubic feet (1 box and 1 oversize folder)

Scope and Content: Correspondence, news clippings, family photographs, handwritten family history, a convention proceeding book from an international convention of the Boilermaker's Union, and other materials.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Theo Skowronek-Nassar

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder Accession
1/1 5849-002
Correspondence
Scope and Content: Letters sent to Mrs. Skowronek, including photograph of Theodosia Skowronek
1950-1956
1/2 5849-002
Mary Ann Wells Dance Concert program
1948
1/3 5849-002
"Some Family History" by Frank J. Clark
Photocopy
Scope and Content: Handwritten account of family history from approximately 1862 to approximately 1940
approximately 1979
1/4 5849-002
Emil Skowronek Clippings
Photocopies
Scope and Content: Seattle Times articles about Boilermakers' Union including reference to Emil Skowronek
1944, 1956
1/5 5849-002
Emil and Felix Skowronek
Scope and Content: Empire Way Community Club membership card, University of Washington School of Music concert program, Seattle Symphony program, Seattle Post-Intelligencer opinion article clipping, 1943 tax forms, and letter from 1951
1942-1975
1/6 5849-002
Joffrey Ballet Clippings
Scope and Content: Includes articles about the Robert Joffrey Ballet and program, photographic negative of a dancer, letter to Mrs. Theodosia Skowronek, postcards to Mrs. Emil Skowronek, and hand-drawn portrait of Mrs. Skowronek
1950-1992
1/7 5849-002
Photographs
approximately 1920s-1950
1/8 5849-002
Scholarship Application and Clipping
Scope and Content: Theodosia Skowronek scholarship application and South Seattle Star edition with article interviewing Theo Nassar
1957, 2003
1/9 5849-002
Felix Skowronek Memorial Website
Scope and Content: Print-out of comments left on Felix Skowronek's memorial website
2015
1/10 5849-002
Union Materials
Scope and Content: The ILWU Story: Three Decades of Militant Unionism (1963) including clippings about Harry Bridges, "The Maritime Crisis" pamphlet by the International Longshoremen's Association Local 38-79, and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers mailings
1961-1970
Box
1 5849-002
Boilermaker's Union Local 104 Buttons
10 buttons
1949-1958
folder:oversize
OS Folder 5849-002
Eleventh Annual Rainier District Pow Wow poster
1944
OS Folder 5849-002
Clippings
Scope and Content: Includes articles with references to the Skowronek family, recital program, and Felix Skowronek's music exercise book
1946-2003

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Flute--Construction--History--Sources
  • Nursing--Washington (State)--History--Sources
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Skowronek, Edna, 1903-1976--Archives
  • Skowronek, Emil, 1904-1993--Archives
  • Skowronek, Emil, 1904-1993--Interviews
  • Skowronek, Felix--Archives
  • Skowronek-Nassar, Theo--Archives

Corporate Names

  • International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders, and Helpers of America. Local 104 (Seattle, Wash.)--History--Sources

Family Names

  • Skowronek (Family :   Skowronek, Emil, 1904-1993)--Archives

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (creator)
    • Washington State Jewish Archives (University of Washington)