Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on the American Federation of Teachers
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Abstract
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on the American Federation of Teachers (1925-2017) is an artificial collection of materials assembled by the Tamiment Library staff including fliers, pamphlets, constitutions, newspaper clippings and other materials accumulated gradually over the years through purchases, donations, standing orders with publishers, organizations, and bookstores, and through exchanges with other special library collections and by ongoing collecting by staff.
Historical Note
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was founded in 1916, in Chicago, Illinois, and has been affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and later the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), since it's founding. Membership was effected by anti-communist efforts following both World War I and World War II, and members cooperated in many strikes from the 1940s through the 1970s. The AFT has advocated for teacher training, educational reforms, and for human and civil rights.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series. Folders are arranged alphabetically within series. The series arrangement of the records is as follows:
I. National Federation Files, 1925-2006
II. Local Files, 1925-2017
Scope and Content Note
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on the American Federation of Teachers (1925-2017) consist of constitutions, contracts, agreements, by-laws, memoranda, reports, and printed ephemera such as clippings, flyers, broadsides, leaflets, catalogs, press releases, programs, and pamphlets generated by federations and national, regional and local bodies, as well as departments and divisions of the National Federation of Teachers. While a small portion of the material is international in scope or associated with other regions of the United States, the majority of the collection relates to the New York metropolitan area.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on the American Federation of Teachers; PE 012; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials in this collection have been compiled by the Tamiment Library. There is no accession record associated with this collection.
In 2025, materials from accession 2019.056, which is associated with Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on Subjects (PE 029), were transferred to this collection.
Custodial History
The provenance of this material is varied. Items were obtained through purchases, donations, standing orders with publishers, arrangements with labor unions and other organizations, exchanges with other libraries, and through ongoing collecting by Tamiment staff.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2025 are unknown.
In 2025, unprocessed materials from the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on Subjects (PE 029) were transferred to this collection and placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. These materials were housed in box Shared Tamiment 190 and integrated into the collection's existing alphabetical file list.
