Communications Workers of America Photographs and Videos
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) was founded in 1947 as an industrial union of telephone industry workers. This collection documents the union's activities, including strikes and national conventions, through photographic prints, slides, a scrapbook, and videos.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), founded in 1947 as an industrial union of telephone industry workers, was the culmination of nearly a half-century of struggle for telephone unionism. Its first president was Joseph A. Beirne, who had led its predecessor union, the National Federation of Telephone Workers (NFTW), in an organizing campaign and a nation-wide strike in 1946 that resulted in the first national agreement with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).
During the next twenty-five years under the leadership Beirne, the CWA moved aggressively to organize all the telephone workers in the United States. It was not until 1974, however, after years of labor-management unrest and a series of strikes, that AT&T agreed to system-wide collective bargaining. Shortly after the national contract was signed, Joseph Beirne died and was replaced as President by Secretary-Treasurer Glenn E. Watts. In the 1960s, the CWA became an active participant in international labor activities supporting the United States government's Cold War policies through the union's involvement in organizations such as the CIA- and USAID (United States Agency for International Development)- financed American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD).
In the 1980s the CWA began to expand beyond telecommunications, creating a Public Employees Department that successfully organized 34,000 New Jersey state workers in 1981. In 1985 Morton Bahr became the CWA President. In 1987 the CWA merged with the International Typographical Workers Union. In 1992 it absorbed the National Association of Broadcast Employees and the Newspaper Guild merged with the CWA. By the 2000s the CWA had become one of the United States' largest and strongest unions with more than 600,000 members.
Arrangement
The records are arranged in four series. Series I has been further arranged into subseries; the contents of each subseries are arranged chronologically with the except of Subseries IL, which has been arranged alphabetically. Series II-IV are unprocessed and have not been arranged by an archivist. The series and subseries arrangement of the collection is as follows:
Series I: Photographic Prints, 1915-1988.
Subseries IA: Bargaining.
Subseries IB: Convenctions, Conferences, and Meetings.
Subseries IC: Group Photographs.
Subseries ID: Political/Legislative.
Subseries IE: Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades.
Subseries IF: Union Activities.
Subseries IG: International.
Subseries IH: Union Officers.
Subseries II: Technology and Workplace.
Subseries IJ: Oversized Photographs.
Subseries IK: Beatrice Smith Photographs.
Subseries IL: Addendum.
Series II: Slides, circa 1915-1986.
Series III: Horace Rairdon Scrapbook, circa 1940-1975.
Series IV: Videos, 1985-1995.
Scope and Content Note
Communications Workers of America Photographs and Videos consists of photographic prints, slides, a scrapbook, and videos, mostly from the 1960s through the 1980s. Most materials are images documenting union activities, including national conventions, congresses, bargaining, strikes, demonstrations, members at work, and changes in telecommunications technology. The scrapbook contains union ephemera in addition to photographs. Videos date from the late 1980s and early 1990s and document conventions and other union activities.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection, created by the Communications Workers of America, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Communications Workers of America Photographs and Videos; PHOTOS.086; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive; New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Communications Workers of America donated photographs and records in a series of accessions starting in 1995; addtiional materials were added periodically. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1987.011, NPA.2000.061, NPA.2000.038, NPA.2003.001, NPA.2003.005, NPA.2003.109, NPA.2005,007, NPA.2005.061, NPA.2006.064, NPA.2006.066, 2018.011, and 2018.024.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. 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.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Other Finding Aids
A description of individual photographs in Subseries IA-IJ is available in the reading room.
About this Guide
Processing Information
In January 2014, unprocessed addenda, as well as a portion of a videos collection and scrapbook, were integrated into the collection. To facilitate the incorporation of additonal photographs, slides, a scrapbook, and videos, the original ten series of the collection became subseries A-J of Series I: Photographic Prints. Rolled photographs were treated by preservation staff in July 2014.
Graphic and media materials separated from the original collection were integrated into Series I, Subseries IL, Addendum; and Series IV, Videos; February 2018 as Accession 2018.011. Accession 2018.024 was added to Subseries IL March 2018.
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Photographic Prints, 1915-1988, inclusive; 1960-1988, bulk
Extent
Scope and Content Note
Series I: Photographic Prints consists of approximately 4,300 prints--mainly 8x10" black and white photographs, with a small number of 3x4" and 3x5" black and white snapshots. Most of the images date from the 1960s to the 1980s. A handful, drawn from the records of predecessor or related earlier unions (some of which merged with the CWA) such as the International Typographical Union (ITU), Association of Communications Equipment Workers (ACEW), and National Federation of Telephone Workers (NFTU), date from the1910s, 1920s, and 1930s (many of these may be found in the Oversized Photographs series). Photographs of CWA President Joseph A. Beirne and his family, other union officers, CWA conventions, conferences and meetings, and other union activities (including organizing, dinners, receptions and the union's support for scholarships and charities) dominate the collection. Through images of their officers and members, locals from across the country are represented, including those from Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, reflecting a strong southern regional presence.
A large portion of the collection (its single largest series) also documents the union's international activities, through images showing its officers attendance at international conferences of telephone workers and allied unions in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific, Latin America, and international labor, as well as visits by representatives of foreign unions to United States. These international images reflect the union's involvement in Cold War politics through its friendly relationships with the CIA- and USAID (United States Agency for International Development)- financed American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), with labor unions in South Vietnam, and exiled Cuban labor unions.
Also well-represented are images showing the union's close relationships with leading American politicians, officials, and political figures (mainly Democratic) through photographs of CWA leaders posed with most of the sitting United States Presidents from Truman through Carter, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Arthur Goldberg, and Dean Rusk, members of Congress including Senators John F., Robert F., and Edward M. Kennedy, Kefauver, Mondale, Morse, and members of the House of Representatives, including both (then-Congressmen) Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy; Andrew Young, and Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, as well as with labor leaders such as George Meany and Walter Reuther. Occasionally a celebrity from outside the worlds of politics and labor makes an appearance, such as actors and comedians Charleton Heston, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Linda Lavin. A smaller, but significant number of images document bargaining, strikes, demonstrations, and parades, members at work (mainly female telephone operators), and changes in telecommunications technology.
Many photographs have captions, dates, and identifications of persons written on their reverse sides. Individual photographs or groups of photographs have been assigned unique numbers or number/letter combinations, which are written inside square brackets on the back of each print.
Processing Information
Materials in Subseries IJ: Oversized Photographs were placed in appropriately sized folders and given folder titles.
Subseries IA: Bargaining.
Language of Materials
Bargaining (Includes John J. Moran, President of the Federation of Long Lines Telephone Workers), 1946, inclusive
Bargaining, 1961-1968, inclusive
Bargaining, 1971-1986, inclusive
Bargaining, undated, inclusive
Subseries IB: Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings.
Language of Materials
Campaigns and Conventions, circa 1940-1960, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings (Includes images of Affiliation Committee, with Beatrice Smith, 1949; Horace Rairdon), 1939-1957, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings (Includes Glenn Watts; Gus Cramer; J.W. Webb), 1960-1969, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings (Includes Bayard Rustin), 1970-1982, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings 1987 (Includes Pete Catucci of Local 2336; Morton Bahr; James Booe of CWA District 9; actress Linda Lavin), 1983-1987, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings (Includes Gus Cramer, Marvin Collins, and Philip Murray), undated, inclusive
Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings, undated, inclusive
District 9, Local 9407
Subseries IC: Group Photographs.
Language of Materials
Group Photographs (Includes Marie Mengersow, and images of the Casino Royale Restaurant, Washington, DC ), 1937-1967, inclusive
Group Photographs (Includes Glenn Watts, Michael M. Horn), 1970-1984, inclusive
Group Photographs (Includes images of Herman Pirchner's Alpine Village, Cleveland's Theater Restaurant, Playhouse Square, Cleveland Ohio), undated, inclusive
Group Photographs (Includes John J. Moran; District 2 women, Dot Early and Lou Sobar; Gus Cramer; Beverly Stone; Hal Sisson; Joseph Beirne; officers of the Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Telefónicos de Cuba (Federation of Telephone Workers of Cuba) aka FSTTC; officials of the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)), undated, inclusive
Subseries ID: Political/Legislative.
Language of Materials
Political/Legislative (Includes President Harry S. Truman; Joseph Beirne; Congressman John F. Kennedy; Senator Wayne Morse; Walter Reuther; Eleanor Roosevelt; Senator Estes Kefauver), 1948-1959, inclusive
Political/Legislative (Includes Senator Dee Huddleston (KY); President John F. Kennedy; AFL President William Green; Congressional hearing on illegal wiretapping (1962); Hubert Humphrey; George L.P. Weaver, US Assistant Secretary of Labor (for International Affairs); Secretary of State Dean Rusk; Glenn Watts; J. W. Webb; Adlai Stevenson; and John Gronouski (U.S. Ambassador to Poland); Senator John (?) McCormack Robert F. Kennedy), 1960-1968, inclusive
Political/Legislative (Includes Joseph Beirne; President Harry S. Truman, Senator Edward Kennedy, Ray Hackney; Joseph D. Keenan; meeting of the National Labor Committee for McGovern and Shriver, 1970-1972, inclusive
Political/Legislative (Includes President Richard Nixon; Senator Walter Mondale; President Jimmy Carter; Representative Andrew Young (D-GA); Senator Edward Kennedy; Representative Claude Pepper; George Meany; E. Fertig, CWA District 2; James B. Booe; Glenn Watts), 1973-1983, inclusive
Political/Legislative (Includes Richard Nixon (young); Morton Bahr with Senator Edward Kennedy; Walter Mondale; President Harry Truman; President Lyndon Johnson; NY Gov. Hugh Carey; President Eisenhower; Arthur Goldberg; Ray Hackney; William Doherty, Sr. (President of the U.S. Letter Carriers Union); William Doherty, Jr. (Inter-American Representative of the Post, Telegraph and Telephone Workers International (PTTI) and Social Projects Director, American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD); Senator Abraham Ribicoff; President John Kennedy, Senator Hubert Humphrey; Walter Reuther; George Meany; Rosalind Carter; President Jimmy Carter; Glenn Watts; Senator G. Mennen Williams; Mary O'Hara (CWA District 2), undated, inclusive
Subseries IE: Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades.
Language of Materials
Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades, 1947-1956, inclusive
Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades, 1964-1976, inclusive
CWA's "National Job Pressures Day" Campaign Includes William C. Evitt (Local 2201, Albuquerque, NM); members/officers of Mountain Bell Local 8611), Jun 15, 1979, inclusive
Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades (Includes members of CWA Local 195 and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), 1979-1985, inclusive
Strikes, Demonstrations, and Parades (Includes Marty Hughes; Nita Moss (Traffic Local 4307), 1986, undated, inclusive
Subseries IF: Union Activities.
Language of Materials
Union Activities, 1948-1950, inclusive
Union Activities, 1950-1959, inclusive
Union Activities (Includes Joseph Beirne; Congressman Roman Pucinski; Vi Bogan; Glenn Watts), 1960-1970, inclusive
Union Activities (Includes Dave Lucas of Local 7120; President, J. E. Dose of Local 7112; Erma Wiszmann of Local 7117; President; Ed Wallace, California Apprenticeship Program), 1971-1987, inclusive
Union Activities (Includes Ray Hackney; Grace Lee Mayer, Mary Williamson; Coralean Capps; Marilee Beiderman), undated, inclusive
Union Activities (Includes images of CWA organizing against Teamster Union raids; Annual Kiddies' Christmas Party), undated, inclusive
Subseries IG: International.
Language of Materials
International: General, 1950, 1960, inclusive
Asia: General (Includes CWA and Tunisian Labor Study Team; with Ray Hackney; J ohn Crull ; Mrs. Anne Beirne; Mr. V. S. Mathur, , International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU); Joseph Beirne; Miss Maniben Kara, Western Railway Employees' Union (of India); organizers and officials of the Federation of National P&T Organisations (of India), undated, 1966, inclusive
Asia: Japan(Includes meetings with Zendentsu (Japan Telecommunications Union) in Washington, DC and Japan; Akira Yamagishi (President of Zendentsu); members of Zentai (Japan Postal Workers Union); Ray Hackney; John Crull; Mike Florentino, of Local 1180); Morton Bahr), 1962-1964, inclusive
Asia: Philippines (Includes Innocencio "Peter" Ferrer; General Carlos P. Romulo; Ken Hutchinson; Ramon Jimenez, Daisy B. Atienza, and Ben Gonzalez of Asian Labor Education Center), 1962, 1965, inclusive
Asia: Vietnam (Includes Glenn Watts; leader and representatives of the Telecommunications Workers' Union of South Vietnam), 1965, 1966, inclusive
Caribbean: General, 1961, 1963, 1966, inclusive
Caribbean: Costa Rica (Includes 5th Postal Telegraph and Telephone International; (PTTI) Inter-American Congress; Joseph Beirne; Glenn Watts;Wallace Legge), 1965, inclusive
Caribbean: Cuba(Includes officers and members of Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Telefónicos de Cuba (aka Federation of Telephone Workers of Cuba aka FSTTC), in Cuba and in exile in the United States, training with American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD); Joseph Beirne; Ray Hackney), undated, inclusive
Caribbean: Guyana (Includes officers of British Guiana Post Office Workers Union, President Andrew L. Jackson; Yvette Braithwaite; Neville E. Griffith; Selwyn O. Felix; Samuel I. Carmichael, Rudolph A. Smith; guests attending independence celebration for Guyana (formerly British Guiana): U.S. State Department officials, Joseph Beirne, William Doherty (President of the U.S. Letter Carriers Union), officers of Postal Telegraph and Telephone International [PTTI]), undated, 1962, 1966, inclusive
Europe: England, 1956, 1963, 1987, inclusive
Europe: France, undated, inclusive
Europe: Germany, 1962, 1965-1966, 1971, inclusive
Latin America: General (Includes leaders of Latin American unions affiliated with Postal Telegraph and Telephone International [PTTI] at CWA Training Center, Front Royal, Virginia; Carl Tull (Communications Workers Association of Trinidad and Tobago); Ray Hackney, Wallace Legge; Joseph Beirne), undated, 1959, 1963, inclusive
Mexico, 1964-1966, inclusive
Middle East: Israel Israel (Includes Shimon Peres; Golda Meier; Histadrut meeting ; Morton Bahr; Joseph and Anne Beirne, Wallace Legge, Walter Reuther and Mrs. Reuther), undated, 1985, inclusive
New Zealand, 1965, inclusive
South America: Argentina (Includes Joseph Beirne with others arriving for inauguration of new Argentinian president, Dr. Arturo Illía), 1963, inclusive
South America: Brazil (Includes Ray Hackney and Joseph Beirne meeting with Brazilian Telephone Workers union; training of the Brazilian Postal Telephone and Telegraph Workers under auspices of the United States Agency for International Development), undated, 1963, 1965-1968, inclusive
South America: Columbia (Includes meetings of Postal Telegraph and Telephone International [PTTI] held in Bogota), 1960, 1963, 1969, inclusive
South America: Ecuador (Includes Congress of Telecommunications Workers of Ecuador [FENETEL] Congress: Ray Hackney, Wallace Legge (Inter-American Representative of ICTT [Internationale du Personnel des Postes, Telegraphes, et Telephones [International Union of Workers of Postal Telegraph and Telephone Workers); William Doherty, Jr. [PTTI representative]; SenatorVice-President Hubert Humphrey), 1962, inclusive
South America: Peru (Includes meeting with Peruvian Radio Operators and Telegraphers' Association, Lima; Glenn Watts; and Manuel Peña Prado [Peruvian Telecommunications Union]), 1960-1967, inclusive
South America: Venezuela (Includes visit of Federation of Telecommunications Workers of Venezuela [FETRATEL] representatives to CWA headquarters in Washington, DC; Glenn Watts, J. W. Webb, and L. E. Moore), 1966, inclusive
Subseries IH: Union Officers.
Language of Materials
Joseph A. Beirne and family (Includes Joseph Beirne presenting award to comedian Bob Hope), 1946-1958, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne and family (Includes Joseph Beirne, Raymond Percle [CWA Local 3412, Thibodeaux, LA], Louis E. Moore, Alva Moore, Charles Wood, M. Nyrtue, Charles Wheeler [Program Director for Bolivia and Peru for American Institute for Free Labor Development]), 1962-1969, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne and family (Includes "CWA Membership Meeting of the Air" TV program; comedian Jerry Lewis; Joseph Beirne; Glenn Watts), 1970-1983, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne and family, undated, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne and family (Includes Joseph Beirne on WFMY-TV; and Beirne and Charlton Heston), undated, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne and family, undated, inclusive
Morton Bahr (Includes: Bahr with President George Bush, 1990, and International Typographical Union [ITU]President Robert McMichen signing CWA-ITU merger agreement), 1987, 1990, inclusive
Ray Hackney, undated, 1952-1957, 1965, inclusive
Louis Knecht (Includes George Miller), undated, 1978, inclusive
William Smallwood, undated, 1957, inclusive
Glenn E. Watts (Includes Richard W. Hackler; Paul Gray (District 12); D.L. McCowen (District 6)), 1965-1988, inclusive
C. W. "Slim"Werkau, undated, 1955, inclusive
Miscellaneous Officer Photos (Includes Martha Murrill [Local 2110, Maryland (?)]; William M. Dunn [Cincinnati Federation of Telephone Workers]; John L. Crull; James Massey; Lena Wicks), 1944, 1957, 1984-1988, inclusive
Group Photos (Includes first Executive Board and officers of the: National Federation of Telephone Workers [NFTW]: C. W. Werkau; Joseph Bierne; Jake Schacht; Pansy Harris; [Beatrice?] Smith; Paul Griffith; Bert Horth; "Jack" Moran), 1939-1957, inclusive
Subseries II: Technology and Workplace.
Language of Materials
Technology and Workplace, 1966-1984, inclusive
Technology and Workplace, undated, inclusive
Women, undated, 1924, 1972, inclusive
Subseries IJ: Oversized Photographs.
Language of Materials
Oversize Group Portraits, 1942-1967, inclusive
Executive Board Banquet, Dec 1954, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A., circa 1940-1949, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A., Jan 1967-1970, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A., undated
Beirne, Joseph A. at Inauguration of Argentinian President, circa 1963, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A. Portraits, undated
Beirne, Joseph A. with Lyndon B. Johnson and Shah of Iran, 1968, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A. with Harry S. Truman, 1948, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A. Shaking Hands with Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, inclusive
Beirne, Joseph A. Speaking at Union Convention, undated
Conventions, 1938-1972, inclusive
Conventions, circa 1940-1952, inclusive
Conventions, 1941-1967, inclusive
Conventions, 1939-1960, inclusive
Conventions and Dinners, circa 1949-1954, inclusive
CWA Legislative-Political Conference, 1974, inclusive
CWA Shop Stewards Convention, Local 3030, Feb 1957, inclusive
CWA Union-Building School, University of Oklahoma, 1966, inclusive
Installation Local Leadership, 1983, inclusive
International Typographic Union, 1920, inclusive
National Federation of Telephone Workers National Assemblies, 1941-1944, inclusive
Northwestern Division 2nd Annual Convention, Nov 1950, inclusive
Panorama of Fourth Annual Convention, Communications Workers of America-CIO, 1950, inclusive
Panoramas of International Typographers Convention at Panama-Pacific Exposition, August 1915 and Communications Workers of America Annual Convention, April 1986, 1915, 1986, inclusive
Panoramas of CWA Security Annual Conventions, 1982-1983, 1986, inclusive
Portrait of an Unidentified Man from CWA District 9, undated
Women Telephone Operators at Work in Summer, circa 1935-1949, inclusive
Subseries IK: Beatrice Smith Photographs
Beatrice Smith Photographs, circa 1940-1969, inclusive
Ephemera, newsletters, certificates, clippings, 1949-1972, inclusive
Medals, plaque, 1958, 1968
Hubert H. Humphrey print, undated
Subseries IL: Addendum
10th, 11th Assembly photographs, Joseph Beirne memorial, 1944, 1945, 1974
Assorted Photographs, circa 1985-1991, inclusive
AT&T Divestiture: Issues for Negotiation, 1982, inclusive
AT&T Strike (Richmond, VA), Feb 1990, inclusive
Bahr, Morton; Beirne, Joseph, honors, certificates, 1974-1991, inclusive
Bahr, Morton, President's Award, 1994
China trip, 1986
Committee on the Future, 1981, inclusive
CWA Clippings, 1933-2003, inclusive
CWA Day proclamation, 1989
CWA Executive Board, 1980, 1985, inclusive
CWA Legislative Conference, 1972, inclusive
Convention exhibit materials, undated
Convention exhibit CD-Rs, undated
DC Taxi Drivers, 1991, inclusive
Democratic National Convention, Jul 1992, inclusive
Ephemera-postcards, pennant, clippings, undated
Jerusalem Social and Cultural Center, undated
Jobs with Justice, circa 1985-1991, inclusive
Joseph A. Beirne Memorial Foundation, circa 1993, inclusive
NABET, 1990-1992, inclusive
Official Photographs, 1983-1989, inclusive
Oklahoma States Workers Union, circa 1985-1990, inclusive
Organizing AT&T Paradyne, 1991, inclusive
Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild Strike, 2000
Picket sign, 1980s
PTTI Inter-American Advisory Committee Meeting (Caracas), circa 1985-1991, inclusive
Rally, circa 1985-1991, inclusive
Secretary-Treasurer Meetings, 1984-1985, inclusive
Space Shuttle Columbia flag, 1981
Strike: Picketing G Maflower Hotel in Washington, DC, 1981, inclusive
Tony Coelho, 1986, inclusive
Watts, Glenn, correspondence re photo file, 1965-1984, inclusive
West Virginia Newsletters, 1991, inclusive
WVSE Newsletter Photos Vol. 4 No. 1, 1991, inclusive
White House, undated
Jimmy Carter letter and photograph, undated
Photos and clippings from Marie Scheuermann, 1961, 1983, undated
Series II: Slides, circa 1915-1986, inclusive; 1970-1985, bulk
Extent
Scope and Content Note
Series II: Slides contains slides, mostly color, primarly from the 1970s through early 1980s. These slides include images of conventions, union members at work, job training, portraits, and training instructions.
CWA Conventions and Assorted Images, circa 1969-1986, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Five linear feet, consisting almost entirely of color slides (estimated total 8,500) stored in 424 slide pages, in five record boxes; a small number are unmounted. Most of the images in the first four boxes were shot at CWA conventions (the conventions of 1969,1973-1978,1979, 1981,1983;1984-1986). The slide pages in the first four boxes are numbered from 28 through 416. The fifth box contains various color slides and a small number of black and white negatives. Subject matter consists of miscellaneous CWA images (including job training, legislative hearings, conventions, and etc.) spanning from the 1970s through the mid-1980s. All but 54 of the slide pages are dated.
CWA: Watts + Knecht, circa 1915-1985, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Approximately 675 slides (mostly color) from 9 slide carousels labelled "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 1A; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 1B; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 1C; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 2A; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 2B; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 2C; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 3A; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 3B; 9 projectors." "CWA: Watts + Knecht; 3C; 9 projectors." Miscellaneous images ranging from portraits, to "people at work", to planets and stars in space. Dates range considerably from around the early 20th century to mid-1980s.
Processing Information
Slides have been removed from carousels and placed in slide holders where the images are right-side-up and the numbers upside-down.
Miscellaneous Slides, circa 1980, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Approximately 130 color slides from around 1980. They are stored in five slide containers. The images in the first four containers, consist of miscellaneous CWA images (including job training, interviews, repairs, and etc.). The fifth container contains color slides of training/retraining instructions. Also indluced are approximately 228 color 35mm slides from Communication Workers of America conventions of 1974, 1975, and 1977.
Series III: Horace Rairdon Scrapbook, circa 1940-1975, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Content Note
Series III: Horace Rairdon Scrapbook contains materials separated from Rairdon's scrapbook and photocopies of the original scrapbook. Materials include photographs, publications, correspondence, and a transcript of a 1970 interview with Rairdon (conducted by a graduate student at the Center for Labor and Management at the University of Iowa).
Historical/Biographical Note
Horace Rairdon was the CWA representative for Fargo, North Dakota from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Processing Information
In 2014, Horace Rairdon: Communications Workers of America, North Dakota (WAG 246), containing documents from the scrapbook and photocopies, was reincorporated into the CWA Photographs to be reunited with the photographs separated from the scrapbook. The folder in Box 4 contains materials, including six original pages, that had been sent to a conservator for treatment.
Horace Rairdon Scrapbook, circa 1940-1975, inclusive
Horace Rairdon Scrapbook: 3 Loose Photographs and 6 Scrapbook Pages, circa 1940-1975, inclusive
Series IV: Videos, 1985-1995, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Content Note
Series IV: Videos contains five VHS tapes, including "CWA Membership Service, Priority One," "Union Family Action Program," "Donahue/Easterling News Conference," "The 1984 CWA Legislative Conference," and one unlabeled tape.
Processing Information
Materials now comprising Series IV: Videos had previously been part of the Communications Workers of America Videos (VIDEOS 007).