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Washington Education Association records, 1912-1977

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Washington Education Association
Title
Washington Education Association records
Dates
1912-1977 (inclusive)
Quantity
approximately 67.13 cubic feet (64 boxes, including 5 sound tape reels and 3 audio cassettes; and oversize materials)
Collection Number
0731
Summary
Administrative papers of professional Association for education established in 1889
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

No restrictions on access for paper-based materials.

No user access copy is available for sound tapes and audio cassettes. Users may be able to obtain a reproduction of the media for a fee. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

The Washington Education Association (WEA) was founded April 1889 as the Washington State Teachers' Association with 124 members. From 1915 through the 1960s, work by the WEA resulted in basic education requirements to become a teacher, the creation of teacher retirement plans, state contributions to school construction, paid sick leave, and the right for classified school employees to collectively bargin. From the 1970s to today, the WEA has continued to organize for teacher pay and benefits, education funding, and other improvements. The WEA was the defendant in Davenport v. Washington Education Association, a landmark public-sector union case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It is the largest representative of public school employees in the state.

From its founding until the mid-1960s, the WEA was dominated by school administrators, and saw itself as a professional organization advancing the interest of public education. Much of its work involved lobbying the state legislature for increased funding and professional regulation. Numerous affiliate units included associations of principals of elementary, junior high and high schools as well as other administrators. A “Department of Classroom Teachers” was only one of these subsidiary organizations.

Passage of the Professional Negotiations Act by the Washington State legislature in 1965 allowed collective bargaining by teachers, and the WEA began to act more like a labor union. At the same time, the AFL-CIO-affiliated American Federation of Teachers (AFT) continued organizing teachers, and a rivalry between the two resulted in community college teachers being organized into both organizations. The WEA ended up dominant among K-12 teachers and professional staff.

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Content Description

Correspondence, conference and convention records, legislative Files, Subject Files, minutes, membership roles, memoranda, reports, publications, newsletters, ephemera, and photographs. Also includes scrapbooks (mainly clippings dealing with legislation, 1945-1965), and other records of the Association.

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Other Descriptive Information

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

and

Restrictions on Use

Literary rights of representatives of the records-creating organization transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 4 accessions.

  • Accession No. 0731-001, Washington Education Association records, 1920-1966
  • Accession No. 0731-003, Washington Education Association records, 1912-1975
  • Accession No. 0731-004, Washington Education Association records, 1945-1973
  • Accession No. 0731-005, Washington Education Association records, 1962-1977

Preservation Note

Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Processing Note

Accession 0731-001 processed in 2023 by Ernie Dornfeld and Eulalie Mathieu.

Accession 0731-003 processed in 2023-2024 by Ernie Dornfeld.

Accession 0743-004 processed in 2024 by Ernie Dornfeld.

Separated Materials

and

Bibliography

and

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate records (University of Washington)

Corporate Names

  • Washington Education Association--Archives

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (creator)


2007 (Last modified: 12/13/2024)

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