Series III. Newpaper Guild of New York, 1966-1984, inclusive

This series consists of Betsy Wade's personal collection of records of and relating to the Newspaper Guild and its Local 3, primarily dated 1975 to 1984, as well as materials given to Wade by Rose Mary Mechem that relate to the Guild's policies regarding involvement in (United States) government-supported or government-sponsored organizations and programs in Latin American and elsewhere abroad.

The focus of most of these documents is on the activities of Wade and an "insurgent caucus" with which she was associated in the International and in Local 3. These materials document a lively struggle between the insurgents and their supporters (variously called the Reponsibility Slate, the Membership Slate, etc.) and the insurgents' opponents (different individuals and slates variously called the Democratic Coalition, the Representative Assembly Slate, the Unity Slate, etc.) at every level of the organization and on practically every issue.

Throughout the series, which covers a fairly broad spectrum of Guild concerns and activities, and in which are represented all levels of the organization, this conflict is evident particularly in the group of materials concerned with elections and referenda. Here are gathered materials on more than twenty-five elections, referenda, and public disputes that took place in Local 3 in the years from 1978 to 1984. These materials (the bulk of which are campaign literature) demonstrate a chronological picture of the issues and personalities at the core of the conflicts within the Guild.

Another group of materials in series concentrates on one particular aspect of these conflicts: disagreements at the Guild-wide level over Guild involvement in government-supported or government-sponsored programs in foreign countries. These materials document the struggle, within the Guild over this issue, which began as early as 1967, with revelations of CIA involvement in the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) that resulted in the termination of TNG-AIFLD joint programs, and re-emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the resumption of these programs. Much of this material is drawn from documents gathered by Rose Mary Mechem and given to Betsy Wade, although a significant amount also comes from Wade, who also collected materials on the subject.

While the majority of this series focuses on the internal struggle in the Guild, it is also documents a broader range of concerns regarding the administration and activities of a labor union. The minutes of the International Executive Board of TNG, of the Executive Committee of Local 3, and the Representative Assembly and General Membership Meeting of Local 3 are particularly useful in this regard (although there are some gaps in this documentation).

Interfiled throughout the series are handwritten notes, some of which are marginal notations written directly onto various documents (such as meeting agendas) that record, for example, whether Wade attended a particular meeting or when and how many copies of a leaflet were distributed. Others, however, are far more extensive: personal minutes, for example, of meetings, and notes on telephone conversations, with some dialog recorded verbatim. On occasion these notes are separate individual documents, but more often they are written on the front or back of preexisting documents such as leaflets. Most of these notes appear to be in Wade's hand. A sample of Wade's handwriting is included in the appendices, to assist the researcher in making this determination.