The National Union of Bricklayers of the U.S.A. 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, and local politics and power became less important. 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.