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Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection

Call Number

OH.061

Date

2014-2023, inclusive

Creator

Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York (Role: Donor)

Extent

0.8 Linear Feet
in 1 manuscript box and one card box

Extent

18.38 Gigabytes
in 47 computer files

Extent

6 CDs

Extent

2 Sound_Disc-MiniDisc

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a union founded in 1972 that represents staff and faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) and CUNY Research Foundation. The Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection represents a collective oral history project, which documents the activities of the organization from its inception to 2023. Some of the interviews were recorded on sound discs and some were recorded digitally. Written transcripts are available for the interviews recorded on sound discs.

Historical Note

The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a union that represents staff and faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) and CUNY Research Foundation. Founded in 1972, the PSC is a local branch (Local 2334) of the American Federation of Teachers and is also affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The union manages contract negotiations and collective bargaining agreements; enforces a grievance and arbitration process to protect the rights of staff; and provides services to its members through the PSC/CUNY Welfare fund and New York State United Teachers.

Scope and Contents

This collection represents a collective history of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) of City Univeristy of New York. It includes interviews of former faculty and staff from institutions such as Borough of Manhattan Community College, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College who answer questions about their professional careers and their involvement in the PSC when at CUNY. The interviews chronicle the organization's path to becoming unionized at CUNY in the 1970s, the establishment and activities of the union's Executive Council, Delegate Assembly, and Grievance Counselors, and recent developments at PSC up until 2023. Interviews address topics such as administration policies, working conditions and wages, hiring practices, and union officer elections. One digital, black-and-white photograph illustrates a PSC-CUNY rally in New York City.

Some of the interviews were on sound discs (CDs and minidiscs) at the time of donation and included printed transcripts of the interviews. Later accessions also include recordings and transcripts, but they were donated via flash drive.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Professional Staff Congress/CUNY were transferred to New York University in 2014. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection; OH 061; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY in circa 2014; additional materails were donated in increments between 2014 and 2021. The accession number associated with these gifts are 1986.012 and 2018.083. An additional interview with Bob Cermele was donated by Shomial Ahmad in May 2019; the accession number associated with this gift is 2019.115. Ahmad later donated transcripts of interviews with Joan Green and Lilia Melani, as well as an audio recording of Melani's interview in September 2019; the accession number associated with this gift is 2020.001. In 2021, Ahmad donated audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Peter Jonas and Lorraine Cohen; the accession number associated with this gift is 2021.025. In 2022, Ahmad donated audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Joel Berger, Barbara Bowen, Manfred Philipp, and Belle Zeller; the accession numbers associated with these gift are 2022.051 and 2023.009. In July 2023, Ahmad donated an interview of Michael Fabricant; the accession number associated with this gift is 2023.065. In September 2024, Marwa Atef Mohamed Amer of Professional Staff Congress-CUNY donated an interview with Steve London; the accession number associated with this gift is 2024.053.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.

Related Materials

More information about the Professional Staff Congress can be found in Professional Staff Congress/State University of New York Records. An interview of Belle Zeller, a member of the Professional Staff Congress can be found in the New Yorkers at Work Oral History Collection. Both collections are held by Tamiment Library and Richard F. Wagner Archives; call numbers WAG 009 and OH 001 respectively.

Collection processed by

Jenny Ambrose

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-10-11 18:25:17 UTC.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

One flash drive was forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Research Workspace. Further accretions have been donated as network transfers.

New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

June 2018: Edited by Jenny Ambrose to reflect inclusion of 2018 accretion.
September 2019: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2019 accretion
January 2020: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2019 accretion
January 2020: Edited by Nic Caldwell to reflect the arrangement of digital materials
July 2020: Edited by Anna Björnsson McCormick to add a Related Archival Materials note.
May 2021: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2021 accretion
June 2022: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2022 accretion
February 2023: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2023 accretion
August 2023: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2023 accretion
September 2024: Edited by Lauren Stark to correct misspelling of the name Polishook.
October 2024: Edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect September 2024 accretion

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012