Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society Records
Call Number
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Language of Materials
Abstract
The Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society was founded to provide insurance benefits, medical services, and recreational activities for gas and electrical workers in New York. The earliest of its predecessor organizations, the Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York, was organized Feb 17, 1891. There were approximately two hundred members at the time of this voluntary organization's creation, and the initial goal was to promote socialization among workers and provide a burial fund. By the 1920s, the society ran a dispensary for medical care, provided dental care, and had expanded life insurance benefits. These services were supported by dues and social activities such as athletic events and dances. The Association of Employees of the New York Edison Company was founded in 1905, and the Employees of the United Electric Light and Power Company began in 1908. Each provided similar services to that of the gas companies' society. When the parent utility companies merged as ConEd from 1936-1937, the mutual aid societies followed suit. The collection includes meeting minutes, reports, manuals, correspondence, filings with the State of New York, healthcare statistics, and an institutional history prepared for society's fiftieth anniversary. There are also albums containing brief biographical information and photographs of individuals who served on the Board of Managers and of gas company employees who served during the First World War. The records give insight into the the workings of another outlet for worker solidarity and cooperation that operated alongside the utility workers union.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society was founded to provide insurance benefits, medical services, and recreational activities for gas and electrical workers in New York. The earliest of its predecessor organizations, the Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York, was organized Feb 17, 1891. There were approximately two hundred members at the time of this voluntary organization's creation, and the initial goal was to promote socialization among workers and provide a burial fund. By the 1920s, the society ran a dispensary for medical care, provided dental care, and had expanded life insurance benefits. These services were supported by dues and social events such as athletic events and dances. The Association of Employees of the New York Edison Company was founded in 1905, and the Employees of the United Electric Light and Power Company in 1908. These societies had similar goals and offered similar services as the gas companies' organization. When the parent utility companies merged as ConEd from 1936-1937, the mutual aid societies followed suit. During the 1980s, the Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society had a relationship with the Salvation Army. Collective bargaining for ConEd workers in New York City is represented by the Utility Workers Union of America, Local 1-2.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Scope and Content Note
The Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society Records document the organization's activities to provide insurance, healthcare services, and recreation for members. Documentation includes meeting minutes, reports, manuals, correspondence, filings with the State of New York, healthcare statistics, and an institutional history prepared for society's fiftieth anniversary. There are also albums containing brief biographical information and photographs of individuals who served on the Board of Managers and of gas company employees who served during the First World War. The records give insight into the the workings of another outlet for worker solidarity and cooperation that operated alongside the utility workers union.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by the Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society Records; WAG 134; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Paul R. Westerkamp, Chief Administrative Officer of the Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society, in 1998. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1998.001, 1998.003, and NPA.2002.054
About this Guide
Processing Information
Collection was processed in March of 2014. Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Utility Workers Union of America, Local 1-2, Benefits Board Photographs (PHOTOS 117). In 2014, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society Records.
Repository
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Corporate Filings with State of New York (copies), 1893-1963, inclusive
Documents of Treasurer Benjamin Whitely of Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York, 1902-1929, inclusive
Binder of records of Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York, 1914-1933, inclusive
Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York Minutes Book, 1917-1936, inclusive
Dispensary Statistics, 1927-1938, inclusive
Association of Employees of the United Electric Light and Power Company, Board of Trustees Minutes, 1928-1935, inclusive
Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York and Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society, Minutes, Reports of Officers, and Reports of Committees, 1931-1938, inclusive
Administrative Manuals, 1932-1966, inclusive
Gas Companies' Employees Mutual Aid Society of New York and Consolidated Edison Employees Mutual Aid Society, Board of Managers Minutes, 1933-1944, inclusive
Association of Employees of New York Edison Company, Board of Trustees Minutes, 1934-1937, inclusive
Gas and Electric Golf Association Annual Tournament, 1936-1939, inclusive
"Fifty Years of Mutual Aid, 1891-1941", Feb 17, 1941, inclusive
Routines and Procedures - Constitutional Items - Membership, 1949, inclusive
Bylaw Revisions Up to March 1961, Mar 12, 1963, inclusive
Annual Reports, 1966-1974, inclusive
Salvation Army Con Edison Mutual Aid Society Service Unit, 1983-1991, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Contains correspondence, minutes of meetings of the Executive Committee, bank statements, and other documents.
Board of Managers Brief Biographies and Photographs, Circa 1984, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
These files provide brief biographical information on members of the Board of Managers, including terms served, address, department, offices held, committees on which they participated, and a photograph. It is unclear when the organization began compiling this information, but it was maintained into the 1980s.
Photographs of World War I Veterans, undated
Scope and Content Note
Compiled album of photographs of gas company employees who served in the First World War. Often includes brief biography or obituary for veterans killed during the war.
