Guide to the Vernon H. Jensen (Collector) Files on the Western Federation of Miners and the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers,
1893-1955

Consist of documents collected by Professor Vernon H. Jensen for his work on the non-ferrous metals industry, specifically, relating to the WFM, the IUMMSW, and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Include constitutions, collective bargaining agreements, proceedings of conventions and minutes, chiefly of the WFM and IUMMSW (1893-1943). Also, documentation relating to the rank and file revolt of Butte, Montana, Local 1 (1955) and to the rivalry between the IUMMSW and the IWW (1917-1919), among others subjects.

Consist of constitutions, collective agreements, proceedings of conventions, minute books, and some letters and notes, chiefly of the WFM and the IUMMSW.

Includes constitutions of the Western Federation of Miners (1893-1914); Grass Valley Miners' Union (1902); Poney Miners' and Millmen's Union (1906); Tintic District Miners' Union, Local 151 of the WFM (1914); the American Federation of Labor (1929); Non-Ferrous Metals Council (1952); Silver Bow Trades and Labor Council (A.F. of L.) (1930); Industrial Workers of the World (1922); International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (1918, 1927-1940); Butte Miners' Union (1934-1943); Butte Stationary Engineers' Union, Local 83 (1927); and Great Falls Mill and Smeltermen's Union, Local 16 of the IUMMSW (1931).

Additionally, include collective agreements of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company with the American Federation of Labor, Building and Construction Trades Department and various unions (1944): Anaconda Mill and Smelters' Union, Local 117 (1944, 1952), Butte Miners' Union, Local 1 (1936-1944, 1951), and the Great Falls Mill and Smelters' Union, Local 16 (1951); Utah Copper Company with the IUMMSW District No. 2 (1946) and various unions (1944-1946); and the Kennecott Copper Corporation with the Operating Engineers Union, Local 3 (1951).

Also, minute books of the Bingham Miners' Union, Local 67 (1904-1908), and Local 1 (1925-1931). Materials interfiled with the minute books of the Bingham Miners' Union include: manuscript notes and letters on membership organizing, resignation of union members, union election, defense fund, investigation of J.A. Boyle (member, Bingham Miners' Union) for misappropriation of union funds, and memorials for deaths of union members; letters and statements regarding Bingham miners' condemnation of Governor Frank Gooding (Idaho), and Governor Jesse MacDonald (Colorado) for conspiring to murder George Pettibone (president, WFM) (1906) and Bingham miners' demands that the marshall of the town be a union member and Socialist Party representative (1905); circular letters to members regarding political changes in the WFM and rivalry for political leadership (1916); union election ballots; and photographs of miners' homes in Bingham County, Utah (1906).

Consist chiefly of correspondence, news releases, and statements pertaining to the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers during the organizing campaigns of Jerome, Ariz. (1917); the split between the IUMMSW and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) over communist influence in the former (1947-1952); and the rank and file revolt of the Butte, Mont. miners, Local No. 1 (1955).

Include files of correspondence of H.S. McCluskey (organizer, IUMMSW) which regard the IUMMSW-Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) strike in Jerome, Ariz. (1917). These files consist of originals and typewritten copies of letters and telegrams written to McCluskey by Thomas French (secretary-treasurer, Arizona State Federation of Labor) on strikers' aid and the IWW role in the Jerome strike; IUMMSW members on the WFM-IWW union rivalry, and the politics and strategy of the IWW; George Powell (secretary, Ash Peak Extension Mining Company) on the IWW position on organizing miners in Arizona; Thomas French on the financial status of the United Verde Company; William Burns and Robert Tally (Executive Board members, IUMMSW) on organizing and the administration of the IUMMSW, IWW influence on the IUMMSW, and a request that McCluskey organize the Jerome miners; H.H. Linney (deputy county attorney, Yavapti County, Ariz.) on the right of the IUMMSW to march and demonstrate in Clarksdale, and property rights in a company town; and Martin Coyne and James Rowan (members, IUMMSW), J.H. Donnelly (president, Arizona American Federation of Labor) and Joseph Cannon on the conduct of the Jerome strike.

Additional correspondence includes H. Halter to John Kerwin on IUMMSW-IWW cooperation in Jerome; Connelly and French to members of the A.F. of L. and the Railroad Brotherhoods requesting support for the IUMMSW copper strike against the Verde Mine Operators Association; Charles Clark (general manager, United Verde Company) to committee members offering a strike settlement with no discrimination, and to John McBride (U.S. congressman) on United Verde proposals for strike settlement; and Joseph Cannon to Charles Moyer on strike conduct, working conditions, building union solidarity, and deportation and arrests of strikers.

Also, includes letters of Reid Robinson (president, IUMMSW) to the membership of the IUMMSW on the status of local unions (1937), to Philip Murray (president, CIO) concerning the expulsion of the IUMMSW from the CIO, and to George Kirby (IUMMSW) on union politics and Kirby's objections to Robinson and Maurice Travis as union officers; and of the International Board of the CIO to IUMMSW members regarding the administration of IUMMSW District No. 6 (Connecticut), and the investigation of charges of communism in the IUMMSW (1950); statements of the CIO on the expulsion of the IUMMSW for communist infiltration (1950); a press release of Robinson regarding his resignation as president of the IUMMSW (1947); memoranda from Travis to union membership on union politics (1948); and correspondence of the IUMMSW with the American Brass Company concerning the duty to bargain, and the status of the IUMMSW officers who had not signed the non-communist affidavits. Also, reports of the IUMMSW regarding importation of ores, the union's role in war production, the Non-Ferrous Metals Board decisions on wages and settlements (1946); IUMMSW minority report on union leadership policies, elections, membership and raiding; and of Robert J. Davidson (regional director, IUMMSW, Cincinnati, Ohio) on the administration of IUMMSW District 6, interunion politics, relations with the CIO, conduct of elections, and loss of membership (1943).

Additionally, include tape recordings of radio broadcasts of members of the IUMMSW Local No. 1 of Butte, Montana during the rank and file negotiating committee's wildcat takeover of the 1955 negotiations. Members and officers of the international union were excluded from these negotiations.

Include published materials from the following sources: Industrial Workers of the World; International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers; Congress of Industrial Organizations; Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Bridgeport Brass, and other mine operators and employer associations; federal and state government bodies; miscellaneous individual authors; newspapers and journals.

Materials of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) include the IWW MANIFESTO; pamphlets regarding the history, organizational structure and political ideology of the IWW; and broadsides concerning rival unionism between the IWW and the IUMMSW during strikes called by the Metal Mineworkers Industrial Union No. 800 in Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Montana (1917-1919).

Documents of the IUMMSW include collective agreements; manual for shop stewards; handbook for secretaries; scattered issues of newsletters of the IUMMSW and Butte, Montana Miners' Union (1952); notices of meetings; union songs; and pamphlets and reports of the IUMMSW concerning union politics; wartime collective bargaining (1944); history of the IUMMSW (1948): IUMMSW position on the Taft-Hartley amendments (1947); union elections; manpower and wage policies (1942); rival unionism; and the Ansonia-ABC-Anaconda Conference.

Reports of various unions include that of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) committee appointed to investigate the breach within the IUMMSW, "Report to President Philip Murray" (1947); resolution and report of the CIO Executive Board on the expulsion of the IUMMSW from the CIO (1950); reports of the CIO Provisional Metal Workers Council on communist influences in the IUMMSW and the resignation of Reid Robinson (president, IUMMSW); handbook for shop stewards of the National Association of Die Casting Workers (1939); and "Reply of the Western Federation of Miners to the 'Red Book' of the Miners Association: Category of Crime of the Mine Operators Association -- a partial list showing 851 men murdered in less than four years" (1904).

Files of employers' publications include statements, pamphlets and reports of the American Mining Congress before Congressional committees contemplating amendments to the National Labor Relations Act (1947-1948); of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company regarding safety rules, and properties and operations in Montana; of the Bridgeport Brass Company and Scovill Manufacturing on working conditions (1946); of the Colorado Mine Operators Association: "Criminal Record of the Western Federation of Miners: Coeur d'Alene to Cripple Creek, 1894-1904" (the "Red Book") (1904); and of the Copper County Commercial Club of Michigan on strike investigations (1913). Also, legal documents, press releases, and letters of the American Zinc Company regarding a National Labor Relations Board election and a strike (1949) and refusal of local officers of the IUMMSW to sign anti-communist affidavits; and documents concerning the U.S. Supreme Court case, Eagle-Picher Mining Company vs. the IUMMSW (1944-1945). Additionally, include pamphlets and reports of Thomas E. Campbell on the industrial battles of Jerome and Bisbee (1917-1918); of Frank Edwards on Montana politics (1941); H.G. Wells interviews of Joseph Stalin (1935); Governor J.H. Peabody (Colorado) on Colorado miners' strikes (1904); and Vladimir Lenin's "Letter to American Workers" (1934).

Also, include files of news clippings from the BUTTE BYSTANDER describing the formation of the WFM (1893) and various issues dealing with miners (1893-1952); ARIZONA LABOR JOURNAL on the Jerome strike (1917); WEEKLY PEOPLE on the deportation of Arizona miners (1917); and the WATERBURY DEMOCRAT on the split between the IUMMSW and the CIO, the Eagle-Picher suit, union funds, and metal mining (1942-1947).

Also, files of articles from journals, newpapers, and periodicals regarding communist influence in the IUMMSW (1947-1948), Western Federation of Miners (WFM) influence in Bingham, Utah (1907); Taft-Hartley Act and the mining industry (1947); and manpower in the metal mining industry (1949-1952); scattered issues of the PEOPLES VOICE, Helena, Mont. (1946-1952); PRODUCERS NEWS, Plentywood, Mont. (1928); the SEARCHLIGHT, Salt Lake City, Utah (1945-1946); and a typewritten term paper of Robert L. Stutz (student, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations) on the secession of the Ansonia Brass Workers (1947).

Consist chiefly of correspondence and manuscript notes of interviews of Vernon Jensen (professor, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations) with various union leaders and individuals concerned with the non-ferrous metals industry. Also, some pamphlets, and research notes of Jensen on strikes, union organizing, and the history of unionism in the non-ferrous metals industry.

Include correspondence of Jensen with Ted F. Silvey (deputy assistant administrator, U.S. Office of Labor) on the McCarran Committee investigations and the metal mining industry (1952); with Ken Eckert (president, National Association of Die Casting Workers) on Jensen's research, and the history of the non-ferrous metals industry (1948); and with Adolph Germer (national representative, Congress of Industrial Organizations) on the leadership of the WFM (1945-1948). Also correspondence of Adolph Germer with Theodore Debs and Edward Boyce (founder, WFM) on the life and work of Boyce.

Consist of union documents and personal correspondence accumulated by Lew McLenegan during his association with the Butte Miners' Union and the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter workers.

Materials regarding the Butte Miners' Union include resolutions and statements regarding the creation of an independent union of mine workers in the Silver Bow region of Montana (1922-1923) and letters written by Lew McLenegan (in his capacity as secretary of the union) regarding union membership, assessments and activities of the miners' organizing committee (1927-1929).

Files of documents of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) include memoranda, statements and clippings regarding the organization of various IUMMSW locals, employer discrimination against union members; strikes; reports of the secretary-treasurer; minutes of the Executive Board (1926-1933); financial statements; and bulletins and news releases regarding elections, amendments to union constitutions, affairs of union locals, and lobbying for protective labor legislation in Montana. Also, correspondence of McLenegan with IUMMSU officers Thomas H. Brown, James Robinson and Reid Robinson (presidents), George R. Coles (vice president), and Charles Whitely, Daniel Orlich and Thomas N. Cole (Executive Board members) regarding organizing union locals; national union affairs; Copper Industry Code of the National Industrial Recovery Act; strike of Liberty, Mont. mines; financial matters; collective negotiations; settlements; recognition strikes; treatment of strikebreakers; lobbying activities; endorsement of political candidates; control and ownership of railroads; protest against minimum wage legislation; maximum hour laws; mineral tariffs; public lands; six-hour day; farmer-labor cooperatives; and information regarding the Montana State Mining Council (1927-1935). Also some issues of newspapers of IUMMSW locals.

The files of Harlow Pease consist chiefly of pamphlets, news bulletins, broadsides, and some personal papers, including letters, poems and songs.

Harlow Pease was a liberal attorney living in Butte, Mont. He sometimes acted as counsel for the Industrial Workers of the World.

The publications were produced chiefly by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the American Civil Liberties Union, the federal government, various socialist and political parties and the non-ferrous metals miners' unions. These materials generally regard anarchistic political groups in the United States and Canada; union organizing and elections in the industries of lumber, construction and steel; socialism; civil liberties; the Paterson, N.J. Silk Strike (1924); the deportation of strikers and political prisoners; the Centralia Massacre; the labor movement in California; relations between the IWW and the Red International; the history and political philosophy of the IWW; strikebreakers; hours of work; labor violence; the Non-Partisan League of Montana; socialism and the labor movement in the United States; the international labor movement; and war production.

Consist chiefly of bulletins, leaflets, broadsides, and clippings of articles from local and union newspapers regarding the split of the Ansonia Brass Workers' Union (Waterbury, Conn.) from the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW).

Materials discuss the affiliation of the seceding locals with the Provisional Metalworkers Council (led by John Driscoll); resignation of Reid Robinson (president, IUMMSW); the position held by secessionist groups and the Congress of Industrial Organizations on communism in the IUMMSW; various rival factions of the Ansonia Brass Workers; and the National Labor Relations Board representation election held in 1948. Also, includes a typewritten, unpublished term paper of Robert L. Stutz entitled "The Attempted Secession of the Ansonia Brass Workers Union Local 445 from the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers".

Consist of transcripts of the proceedings of the court trials of William D. "Big Bill" Haywood (secretary-treasurer, Western Federation of Miners) for the murder of Frank Steunenberg (1907) and those of Sherman Parker, Thomas Foster, and W.F. Davis (members, Western Federation of Miners). (1903). Also include reports of Governor James H. Peabody (Colorado) on the investigation of the Western Federation of Miners strikes at Cripple Creek, Colo. (1903), and reports of the Pinkerton and Thiel Detective Agencies to the governor of Idaho on the investigation of the Steunenberg murder.

The Cripple Creek mining district of Colorado was the site of a long and violent strike begun in 1903, led by the Western Federation of Miners. Several strike leaders were arrested during this period on a variety of charges. William D. Haywood and other leaders of the WFM were tried for causing the assassination of Frank Steunenberg, the former governor of Idaho. All four WFM defendants in this latter case were eventually acquitted or had the charges against them dismissed.