International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 Records
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Abstract
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 was granted a charter by the National Union of Bricklayers of the United States of America on October 17, 1868 in Brooklyn, New York and is one of the oldest continuously-existing locals in New York City. The National Union of Bricklayers was one of the first unions to support the eight-hour work day. The collection consists of materials from Local 1, as well as Locals 9, 21, 34, 41, and 66 which merged with Local 1. Materials include early ledgers, correspondence, ephemera, photographs, scrapbooks, audio recordings, and an archived version of Local 1's website. Physical materials date from the 1880s to the 1990s, and the archived websites' captures are ongoing since 2012.
Historical Note
The National Union of Bricklayers of the United States of America was organized on October 16, 1865 and granted a charter to Local No. 1 in Brooklyn, New York, on October 17, 1868, making Local 1 one of the oldest continuously-existing locals in New York City. The National Union of Bricklayers was one of the first unions to support the eight-hour work day, a priority for delegates from its New York locals to its 1869 Convention. In 1881, the National Union of Bricklayers became an international union. A reorganized charter was granted in 1910 when the International became Bricklayers, Masons, and Plasterers International Union of America. In 1916, the union became affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. From its beginnings the union emphasized apprenticeship training, wages, working conditions, and benefits for union members and their families.
The union's records illustrate the early dominance of Irish American and Irish immigrant members in the union, many of them sons of bricklayers. In the 1930s and 1940s, members from Irish and Italian ethnic backgrounds clashed, as Irish membership dwindled, and Italian members brought in more family members. By the mid-1980s, union operations were run at the district and international level, rather than at the local level. In 1986, Local 1 had 447 members, half of whom were African American and Latino, and the remainder were mostly of Italian origin. During the 1980s and 1990s, the International operated a federally funded program called the Job Corps for Disadvantaged Youth, which trained female as well as male apprentices for Local 1.
Since its founding, Local 1 merged with several other locals, including locals 9, 21, 30, 31, 34, 37, 41, 66 and 84. Local 1's members have worked on New York City landmarks such as Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, the Metropolitan Life Building, the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center, the Cloisters, the Frick Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and thousands of office and residential buildings.
Sources:
Bates, Harry. Bricklayers' Century of Craftsmanship: A History of the Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers' International Union of America. Washington, D.C.: Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers' International Union of America Washington, D.C., 1955.
Hommel, Claudia. New York City Labor Records Survey, Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, 1986.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 Records consist of the records of International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 of Brooklyn, New York and other locals it merged with, including Local 9 of Brooklyn, Local 41 of Woodside, Queens, and locals 21, 30, 31, 34, 37, 66 and 84. Materials and documents date from the 1880s to the 1990s and include ledger books, minutes, contracts, correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, ephemera and audio recordings of meetings and conventions. Early ledgers of Locals 1 and 9 date from the 1880s to the 1930s and include minutes, dues records, expense and benefits books and apprentice lists. The collection also contains the archived websites of Local 1, with captures ongoing since 2012. Photographs include portraits of individual members, union events, and group portraits of union members from the 1920s to the 1980s. A 1940s-era scrapbook from Local 41 includes head shots and group portraits of union members and related clippings. A photograph album that appears to date from the 1920s-1930s includes approximately 105 small black and white head shots of union members with names written in pencil under each.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to researchers without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
In 1998, Santo Lanzafame, the president of Local 1, transferred copyright of nonprint materials and two scrapbooks in this collection to New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce these materials must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 Records; WAG 118; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
To cite the archived websites in this collection: Identification of item, date; International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 Records; WAG 118; Wayback URL; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1, in 1998. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1998.020 and 1998.021.
http://bricklayersandalliedcraftworkerslocal1ny.org/ was initially selected by curators and captured through the use of the California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2012 as part of the Labor Unions and Organizations (U.S.) Web Archive. In 2015, these websites were migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In 2025, https://www.baclocal1ny.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2026.018.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Due to the fragility of materials in Boxes 1 and 2, researchers must use the microfilm of the early minutes of Local 9 (microfilm collection number R7459). Also because of fragility, advance notice is required before using a 1920s-1930s-era photographs album in Box 48.
Due to technical or privacy issues, archived websites may not be exact copies of the original website at the time of the web crawl. Certain file types will not be captured dependent on how they are embedded in the site. Other parts of websites that the crawler has difficulty capturing includes Javascript, streaming content, database-driven content, and highly interactive content. Full-Text searches of archived websites are available at https://archive-it.org/organizations/567.
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 special.collections@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.
Take Down Policy
Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.
If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.
If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to special.collections@nyu.edu.
Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.
Accruals
New site crawls are accrued semiannually.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs were separated from this collection in 1999 and were established as a separate collection, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 0001 (Apprenticeship and Training Program) Photographs (PHOTOS 082). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 1 Records and Photographs WAG 118.
In 2014, the archived website was added to the finding aid. In 2026, an additional archived website was added.
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2019 are unknown. In 2019, materials were rehoused in new acid-free folders and boxes with spacers in preparation for offsite storage. Material in the following boxes were rehoused into multiple boxes: box 9 was split into boxes 9, 50, and 51; box 10 was split into boxes 10 and 52; box 13 was split into boxes 13 and 53; box 14 was split into boxes 14 and 54; box 27 was split into boxes 27, 56, and 57; box 38 was split into boxes 38, 58, and 59; box 40 was split into boxes 40 and 60; and box 47 was split into boxes 47 and 61. In rehousing the collection, mold was found in some boxes and materials were quarantined as necessary.
