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United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America, Local #88 (Anaconda) Records, 1889-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local 88 (Anaconda, Mont.)
Title
United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America, Local #88 (Anaconda) Records
Dates
1889-1967 (inclusive)
Quantity
13 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 194
Summary
Records of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local #88 in Anaconda, Montana, consist of general correspondence (1890s-1950s); minute books (1889-1965); daybooks (1896-1964); membership dues books (1896-1965). Also included are records of Deer Lodge Local #1229; the Montana State Council of Carpenters; the national union; the Montana State Federation of Labor/Montana State AFL-CIO; the Montana Apprenticeship Council; and the Non-Ferrous Metals Council.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was founded in 1881 by Peter J. McGuire and Gustav Luebkert. In April of that year the two men formed a provisional committee and started the newspaper The Carpenter to promote the idea of a national union of carpenters. The first convention of the Brotherhood was held in Chicago in August of 1881. Like many unions of the period the Brotherhood grew out of a tradition of social democracy and socialism. The early preamble reflected this in its call for a "Cooperative Commonwealth" with trade unions as its cornerstone. The union's immediate goals included wage and hour demands and death and sickness benefits. The union grew rapidly; its 1881 membership of 2000 expanded to 50,000 by 1890, and 100,000 by 1900. In May 1889 an organizational meeting was held in Anaconda, Montana, to form a local carpenters' union. The first formal meeting of the new Local #88, of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was held on June 6, 1889 by nine charter members. Anthony Blise was elected president and George Owen, recording secretary. The reform ideology of the national union was reflected in the local bylaws, the preamble to which stated that "We hold it as a sacred duty to posterity to use our utmost endeavor to replace the present wage system by cooperative industry and to claim our inalienable right to the means of living which are inherent in the soil." The Anaconda local bylaws fined members for patronizing Chinese businessmen. Both the preamble and the anti-Chinese clause were eliminated in later bylaws. The union's main concerns were promoting the eight hour day, protecting wages, providing sick and death insurance, enforcing union shop conditions, and protecting the jurisdiction of the union against other unions. In 1915 the carpenters formed a statewide organization, the Montana State Council of Carpenters, to coordinate the work of all the locals in Montana. The carpenters' union was also active in the Montana State Federation of Labor, the Montana State AFL-CIO, the Montana State Apprenticeship Council, and the Non-ferrous Metals Council. The latter was a joint negotiating team of unions in the regional copper industry.

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Content Description

This collection consists of records of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local #88 (Anaconda). In addition there are smaller subgroups of records for Deer Lodge Local #1229, the Montana State Council of Carpenters, the national union, the Montana State Federation of Labor/Montana State AFL-CIO, the Montana State Apprenticeship Council, and the Non-ferrous Metals Council. The Anaconda Local #88 records include incoming and outgoing correspondence (1895-1966); financial records (1896-1965), including daybooks, hall rental ledgers, and membership dues records; minutes (1889-1965); organizational records (1894-1958), including bylaws and membership applications; reports (1895-1967), including sick committee reports and a report of the local walking delegate regarding union and non-union jobs around Anaconda; subject files (1938-1957), including a jurisdictional dispute with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees over carpenters employed by the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific Railway; and miscellany. Records of the smaller subgroups include Deer Lodge Local #1229 financial records (1956-1965), minutes (1961-1966), and organizational records (1965); national union financial records (1905-1928), legal documents (1931-1953), minutes (1904, 1936, 1955-1957), and organizational records (1903, 1929-1941); \b Montana State Council of Carpenters correspondence (1956-1957), financial recoeds (1939-1967), legal documents (1956), and minutes (1949-1957); \b Montana Apprenticeship Council\b0 correspondence (1941-1947), minutes (1942-1946), annual reports (1942, 1946), and miscellany; \b Montana State Federation of Labor/ AFL-CIO\b0 financial records (1956-1961) and minutes (1957); and \b Non-ferrous Metals Council\b0 minutes (1952), organizational materials (1951-1952), and legal documents (1951-1952). [Printed material has been transferred to the Library. Montana State Federation of Labor/ AFL-CIO materials were transferred to the Montana State AFL-CIO Records.]

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

by series

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information:

available upon request

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection


2004

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