American Bureau of Industrial Research: Manuscript Collections on the Early American
Labor Movement on Microfilm, 1862-1908
Collection Number: 5764 mf
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
American Bureau of Industrial Research: Manuscript Collections on the Early American
Labor Movement on Microfilm, 1862-1908
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5764 mf
Abstract:
The collection consists of the manuscript holdings of the American Bureau of Industrial
Research, which document working class history in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. The manuscript collections included are the John Samuel papers (1868-1907);
the Joseph P. McDonnell papers (1869-1906); the Albert R. Parsons papers (1876-1893);
the Edward H. Rogers papers (1865-1908); the Ira Steward papers (1863-1883); the Thomas
Phillips papers (1865-1908); miscellaneous cooperative association records (1862-1881);
Knights of Labor records (1882-1902); the records of the Sovereigns of Industry, Philadelphia
Pioneer Council (1874-1879); and the Geisse and Huebner questionnaire responses (1904).
Creator:
American Bureau of Industrial Research
Quanitities:
1.33 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The American Bureau of Industrial Research (ABIR) was established in 1904 at the University
of Wisconsin at Madison to collect primary historical materials on the American labor
movement.
John Samuel was appointed a Knights of Labor organizer in 1881, and three years later
became a member of the Knight's Co-operative Board. By the early 1890's Samuel's formal
connection with the Knights lapsed but his interest in cooperation continued. He became
general secretary of the Co-Operative Union of the United States and Canada in 1894.
In 1883, Joseph P. McDonnell was instrumental in organizing the New Jersey Federation
of Trades and Labor Unions, on which he served as chairman for many years. He was
also president of the American Federation of Labor in New Jersey. In 1892 McDonnell
was appointed to the New Jersey Board of Arbitration, and later served as president
of the Board.
Albert R. Parsons, an anarchist and militant labor advocate, was one of four men
executed following the 1886 Haymarket bombing in Chicago.
Edward H. Rogers was a largely self-educated labor reformer, politician, and theologian.
He helped found the Christian Labor Party in 1872.
Ira Steward rose to leadership in the Machinist's and Blacksmiths' International
Union during the Civil War and later became one of the most astute writers on American
labor issues. In 1877 he helped to form the International Labor Union.
Thomas Phillips was instrumental in founding the Union Co-operative Association and
by 1869, he had become active in the Knights of St. Crispin. In the 1870's he served
as an organizer in the Sovereigns of Industry and later in the Knights of Labor. In
1889 he was elected national president of the Boot and Shoe Workers International
Union.
The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor was first organized in the Philadelphia garment
industry in 1869. It constituted the most powerful force in American labor in the
nineteenth century. It was the first national labor organization to extensively recruit
women and blacks, to organize throughout the country, and to attempt to unify industrial
and agrarian workers.
The Sovereigns of Industry was a cooperative and fraternal order. Beginning as the
Patrons of Industry, the organization was renamed as the Sovereigns in 1874.
Nearly all the Samuel papers concern cooperation in this country and in England, the
Knights of Labor, and related topics. The collection consists of correspondence, notebooks
and publications.
The bulk of the McDonnell papers consist of annual reports of the New Jersey Federation
of Trades and Labor Unions and a manuscript report of the New Jersey Board of Arbitration
for 1893-1894.
Nearly all of the Parsons papers document the trial for the murder of a policeman
who died in the 1886 Haymarket bombing in Chicago. Included are correspondence, notes
taken by Parsons during the trial, and a large volume of clippings and broadsides.
The Rogers papers cover reform issues in education, labor, and religion and comprise
four series: correspondence, autobiography, notebooks and pamphlets, and miscellaneous
articles.
The Steward papers center on the eight-hour movement and are divided in to four major
series: typescripts of writings, manuscript bundles of writings, letters and Philadelphia
Central Eight Hour League.
The Phillips papers, including correspondence, account books and minutes, cover the
principles and propects of cooperation and the workings of cooperative societies.
The Knights of Labor papers contain three series: bound volumes, papers, and yearbooks.
Topics include negotiation and arbitration with executives of companies and internal
union affairs.
The Sovereigns of Industry collection consists of six series: papers, bound volumes,
correspondence, records of members, printed material and records. These include statistics
on membership, financial records, etc.
The documents in the Geisse and Huebner collection consist entirely of questionnaires
and correspondence in answer to the question "Does the development of trade unionism
in the U.S. during the last twenty years show the general tendency of that development
to be in the aggregate, contrary to the best interests of the country?"
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
American Bureau of Industrial Research: Manuscript Collections on the Early American
Labor Movement on Microfilm #5764 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
Dubofsky, Melvyn, 1934- ,
McDonnell, Joseph P., 1847-1906.
Parsons, Albert Richard, 1848-1887.
Phillips, Thomas, 1833-1916
Rogers, Edward H., 1824-
Samuel, John, 1817-
Steward, Ira, 1831-1883.
American Bureau of Industrial Research
Knights of Labor.
New Jersey Federation of Trades and Labor Unions
New Jersey. State Board of Arbitration
Philadelphia Central Eight Hour League
Sovereigns of Industry
Sovereigns of Industry. Philadelphia Pioneer Council
Subjects:
Cooperation. United States.
Cooperative societies. England.
Cooperative societies. United States.
Eight-hour movement.
Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, Ill., 1886.
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