Dennis Serrette Papers
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Abstract
Dennis Serrette is a union activist, founding member of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Black Caucus, and a founding member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU). He was also the New Alliance Party candidate in the 1984 United States presidential election. The Dennis Serrette Papers (1969-2008) contain materials created and collected by Serrette and focus largely on his 1984 presidential campaign and his work as a union activist. Materials include sample electoral ballots, correspondence, flyers, administrative papers, newspaper articles, fundraiser invitations, speeches, conference materials, press releases, brochures, newsletters, handwritten notes, and research materials focused on Serrette's areas of interest.
Biographic Note
Dennis Serrette was born in Harlem in the 1940s and has been a union activist since 1964. In 1971, he became a founding member of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Black Caucus. Between 1971 and 1972, while serving as vice president of the Local 1101 CWA chapter, he participated in a seven month strike against the New York Telephone Company. In 1972, he became a founding member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and later served as president of the United Association for Labor Education (UALE).
In 1984 Serrette ran for President of the United States on the New Alliance Party ticket. At the time, Serrette was working as a switchman for the New York Telephone Company. His running mate was teacher Nancy Ross. Serrette's campaign platform called for a national health plan, limiting the use of nuclear weapons, fair housing, full employment for all, and affirmative action.
Currently, he serves as one of the CWA's Education Specialists.
Arrangement
The materials in the collection are arranged in a single file listing with all material listed alphabetically by topic. Materials within each topic were also arranged alphabetically within their group.
Scope and Contents
The Dennis Serrette Papers (1969-2008) contain materials created and collected by Serrette and focus largely on his 1984 presidential campaign and his work as a union activist. Materials relating to Serrette's presidential campaign include sample electoral ballots, correspondence, flyers, administrative papers, statistics, reports, newspaper articles, fundraiser invitations, press releases, and speeches. Together, these materials provide insight into the types of political issues that were important to Serrette, the breadth of his campaigning, the extent of his electoral reach, and the type of events his campaign team organized.
With regards to Serrette's participation and affiliation with various labor and teaching organizations, the collection includes administrative papers, brochures, teaching materials, newsletters, conference materials, and handwritten notes that together reflect his commitment to union workers, their rights, and their education. Materials related to organizations such as United Association for Labor Education (UALE), Communication Workers of America (CWA), the CWA's Minority Leadership Institute (MLI), Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ), and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) can be found in this collection. Digital versions of documents related to the UALE, MLI, the University of Michigan Labor Studies Center Black Men in Unions Institute, and American Federation of Labor and Congress of International Organizations (AFL-CIO) can also be found within this collection.
Finally, the collection contains research materials focused on Serrette's interests including socialism in Vietnam in the 1980s, Marxism, immigration, diveristy, American politics, the post-9/11 anti-war movement, domestic and international labor movements, and the African diaspora.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Dennis Serrette were transferred to New York University in 2011 by Dennis Serrette. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Dennis Serrette Papers; WAG 316; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Dennis Serrette, 2011. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 2010.100 and 2011.123.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The Dennis Serrette Papers (1969-2008) were arranged and described by an archivist in August 2023. Materials were placed in new archival folders and boxes. Original folder titles were retained when possible. Materials were grouped together thematically and then arranged alphabetically by file title. Duplicate materials were removed from the collection and returned to the donor.
Medical documents, invoices, financial documents, and insurance claims were removed from the collection and returned to the donor.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content. Three floppy disks containing documents and photographs were forensically imaged and analyzed using FTK.
