William L. Standard was a lawyer who specialized in admiralty law, specifically in the welfare of merchant seamen. He served as the General Counsel for the National Maritime Union [NMU] from 1937 to 1948. Prior to the founding of the NMU in 1937, he was legal counsel to the Marine Workers Industrial Union and the International Seaman's Union, AFL. In 1948, Standard's contract was terminated as part of a broader movement in the NMU to rid itself of Communists and perceived far-left members. Mr. Standard went on to be a senior partner at the firm of Standard, Wiesberg, Heckerling and Rossow. He also published books opposing America's involvement in the Vietnam War and on the history of merchant seamen. He passed away in 1978.
The National Maritime Union [NMU] was an American labor union representing merchant seamen. It was founded in May 1937 by Joseph Curran, Ferdinand Smith, and M. Hedley Stone after a split from the International Seafarer's Union, AFL. It affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations [CIO] at its first convention in July 1937. It was at this same convention that approximately 30,000 seamen left the ISU to join the NMU. By the end of the year, the NMU had over 50,000 members and contracts with most American shipping concerns.
Joseph Curran was elected president of the NMU and served as such until 1981. Ferdinand Smith, a Jamaican-born man of Afro-Caribbean descent, was its first vice-president; M. Hedley Stone was its first secretary-treasurer. The leadership of the NMU had strong Communist ties. Among the notable reforms achieved by the union's Communist-dominated leadership was "checkerboarding," the side-by-side racial integration of sailors' sleeping quarters. Another innovation of the new union was the formation of hiring halls in each port. The hiring halls ensured a steady supply of experienced seamen for passenger and cargo ships, and reduced the corruption which plagued the hiring of able seamen. The hiring halls also worked to combat racial discrimination and promote racial harmony among maritime workers. By the end of World War II, the NMU had nearly 100,000 members.
During World War II, the alliance of Communists and non-Communists in the union was weakened. The Cold War exacerbated the ideological divide, and in 1948, the NMU's Communist leadership and its allies were defeated in union elections and expelled. Joseph Curran had distanced himself from the communist elements and in fact helped purge the NMU of any Communist-affiliated members.
The NMU merged with the Seafarers International Union of North America in 2001.
Inclusive date range: 1934-1950
Bulk dates: 1939- 1948
This collection consists of the files of NMU's General Counsel William Standard. The records in this collection document the activities of the NMU in its early years. This includes records on legislation affecting the NMU and its members; hearings in front of the National War Labor Board, the National Labor Relations Board, and the War Shipping Administration; negotiations and arbitrations conducted by the NMU on behalf of its members with various corporations and in front of a Presidential Emergency Board; legal files including case notes, filings, and briefs filed in U.S. District and Supreme Courts on a variety of issues including defending NMU members from accusations of seditious activities and in court-martial proceedings, as well as defending the NMU from libelous news stories printed by newspapers owned by the Hearst publishing empire; files on strikes, including the National Maritime Strike of 1946; and general files on the NMU itself and its organizational structure.
Legislative files include drafts of bills, memoranda, letters and reports regarding the National Maritime Union's lobbying activities and its position on federal legislation of interest to its members. The bulk of these records concerns maritime legislation enacted during or immediately after World War II and includes documentation on proposed amendments to War Shipping Administration regulations; on the Merchant Seamen's War Service Act; on suspension of provisions of the Public Vessels Act of 1925; on seamen's rehabilitation legislation; on proposed amendments to the Merchant Marine Act; on amendments to the National Service Life Insurance Act; and on amendments to the Railway Labor Act. This legislation and other bills documented in these files sought to expedite the activities of merchant seamen during the war, to minimize work stoppages, to compensate families of deceased seamen, to provide vocational rehabilitation for those disabled as a result of war-related injuries, to provide for the naturalization of foreign seamen who served on American owned vessels, and to protect the merchant marine from wartime sabotage. The union was also interested in such legislation as the Taft-Hartley amendments to the National Labor Relations Act and anti-organized labor legislation that began appearing in some states after the war.
National War Labor Board case files include statements, letters, decisions, and proposals for cases brought before the Board. The issues brought before the Board include working conditions, wages, hours of work, dispute settlement, jurisdiction, union security, union activity, and collective negotiations.
The National Labor Relations Board case files on NMU representation elections include correspondence, petitions for certification, authorization cards and supporting documentation on certification elections brought before the Board.
The War Shipping Administration case files consist of agreements, letters and petitions regarding cases of the NMU before the War Shipping Administration on the issues of wages and the allocation of personnel on the steamships Copley and Wheeler.
Arbitration case files include awards, decisions, memoranda, and statements pertaining to cases involving various arbitrators. The issues include overtime pay, impasses in collective negotiations, hiring, seniority, discrimination, grievance procedure, and holidays.
Files on collective negotiations include materials pertaining to bargaining conducted between the NMU and various railroads and shipping companies. The documents consist of copies of collective agreements, letters, and statements of proposals of the parties. These files also include materials pertaining to the mediation proceedings held by the National Mediation Board to resolve an impasse in collective negotiations between the NMU and the Reading Railroad tugboat operators.
Files on legal cases argued on behalf of the NMU before the U.S. District and Supreme Courts and various military courts include correspondence, notes and various legal documents. These files include a libel case between the NMU and various newspapers because of a published report alleging NMU members refused to unload military supplies on Guadalcanal Island. Also found is the case file regarding the court martial of an NMU member, in which Standard seeks to determine what level of jurisdiction the Articles of War have over merchant seamen on non-military vessels. Finally, there is documentation of the settlement of strikes against various Great Lakes transportation companies by the NMU.
Standard maintained general files on NMU activities and issues, largely during the war years. These include data on the national reorganization of the union in 1939; on pension and benefit claims and regulations; on the relationship of the NMU to the Women's Auxiliary of the American Merchant Marine Institute, Inc.; and on sedition trials of NMU members. Of particular interest in these files are documents relating to alleged racial discrimination in employment on the Atlantic Coast Line Company; the position of Joseph E. Curran (president, NMU) regarding a Supreme Court case concerning Communist affidavits in 1948; and documents relating to FBI investigations of the NMU and the CIO.
Also in the collection are two scrapbooks of news clippings and articles regarding various strikes and elections, non-union workers, salaries, collective agreements, court decisions, safety, hazards, accidents, disasters, factional disputes in maritime unions, communism in unions, and copies of NMU news bulletins dating from 1943 to 1947.
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.
William Standard Papers #5258. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
In re representation for Car Ferry workers by NMU; case before the National Mediation Board, case A-2420. Also negotiations for 40-Hour Work Week.
Agreement
Contains specific files regarding Ann Arbor Railroad Company, Detroit River and Lake Michigan, general mediation notes, Grand Trunk and Western Railroad Company, Great Lakes Car Ferry, Pere Marquette Railroad Company, Reading Railroad Car Ferry and Wabash
Contains specific files regarding Ann Arbor Railroad Company, Detroit River and Lake Michigan, general mediation notes, Grand Trunk and Western Railroad Company, Great Lakes Car Ferry, Pere Marquette Railroad Company, Reading Railroad Car Ferry and Wabash
Agreement
Contains annotated copy of 1936 Washington Jobs Agreement and receipt for a petty cash withdrawal.
Organizing
Includes correspondence between the NMU and Ford Motor Company, Inland Steel and International Harvester regarding the opening of contract negotiations; Great Lakes Bulk Freight Agreement negotiations with Bethlehem Transportation Corporation, Brown and C
Includes newspaper clipping from The NMU Pilot
Includes correspondence regarding challenging the right to apply Civil Service laws to Federal Barge Line employees; Government Corporation Control Act; Federal Employee Pay Act; general correspondence from the committee for Rivers Unity regarding a strik
With regard to the New York City Mayor's Advisory Transit Committee hearings.
Includes correspondence regarding employee coverage under the Unemployment Insurance Law.
In re tugs and barges.
In re Pere Marquette (C&O subsidiary railroad), Ann Arbor Railroad Co., Wabash Railroad, and Grand Trunk Western Railroad Arbitration with NMU.
In re Pere Marquette (C&O subsidiary railroad), Ann Arbor Railroad Co., Wabash Railroad, and Grand Trunk Western Railroad Arbitration with NMU.
Contains agreements on behalf of the personnel of the SS Maine and SS Michigan and an agreement with Standard Oil.
Herman Rosenfeld's file
Includes correspondence regarding alleged subversive activities by Mr. Austin.
Initial conflict between Seaman Berue and his Captain was a result of the captain's anti-Semitic abuse of Seaman Berue. Correspondence from the accused, his wife, U.S. State Department officials, U.S. Navy leadership, and Mr. Standard.
Found in this folder is the Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Mr. Standard. Also contains case note in re whether a merchant seaman may be subject to the Articles of War and as such may be court-martialed under them.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Includes copy of court martial transcript and correspondence with several government agencies.
Janitor in NMU's Manhattan headquarters, claim for wages.
Liability under the Jones Act. Correspondence and filing before the Supreme Court (not W. Standard's case).
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes copy of Coast Guard investigation into the accidental death of Joseph Donnellan Jr., coroner's report and numerous photo's of accident site.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Includes handwritten notes, copies of documents filed in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Courts.
Also NMU adv. Hearst Consolidated Publications, Inc.
Also NMU adv. Hearst Consolidated Publications, Inc.
Also NMU adv. Hearst Consolidated Publications, Inc.
Correspondence from union members looking for clippings in local papers drawing from the allegedly libelous wire story.
In re the Guadalcanal story.
In re Guadalcanal story. Newspaper clippings of printed retractions.
Correspondence in re Guadalcanal story, letters of support for NMU.
In re Guadalcanal story.
In re Guadalcanal story. Contain filing against The Chicago Tribune.
In re Guadalcanal story.
In re Guadalcanal story.
In re Guadalcanal story.
Includes several broadsides denouncing slander of the National Maritime Union (NMU). Not a libel case, but response of union to attack columns in weekly magazine.
Contains Life magazine article slandering the NMU.
William Standard filed Amicus brief with the Supreme Court to argue for the protection of bargemen working alongside longshoremen.
Stickers in support of Nationwide Maritime Strike.
Contains daily reports of progress being made in the strike against Standard Oil.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Includes newspaper clippings regarding their negotiations.
Contains pamphlet Opportunities in the United States Merchant Marine. Oversize exhibit materials separated and house in flat files (box10).
Contains pamphlet Opportunities in the United States Merchant Marine.
Contains newspaper clippings.
Contains newspaper clippings.
Contains newspaper clippings.
Contains newspaper clippings and pamphlet "Substandard Wages," by the Textile Workers Union of America.
Correspondence with U.S. Conciliation Service.
Contains Ford Agreement.
Contains Ford Agreement.
NMU adv. Atlantic Gulf and Steamship Company, pp. 1-332.
Includes verbatim transcript of May 14, 1944 hearing before the Board
Includes verbatim transcript of May 14, 1944 hearing before the Board
Includes verbatim transcript of May 14, 1944 hearing before the Board
For letter writing campaign to NWLB in support of raising seamen's wages.
Petition in re allowing NMU onto ballot.
In re overtime wages.
In re overtime wages. File contains Agreement between NMU and Great Lakes' Tanker Companies, 1941.
In re overtime wages.
In re overtime wages.
Includes pamphlet "Pursers Sum it Up! It's NMU for You!"
Includes 1942 and 1943 constitutions, proceedings of the 1945 convention, several broadsides and a membership list of Local No. 1.
Includes 1942 and 1943 constitutions, proceedings of the 1945 convention, several broadsides and a membership list of Local No. 1.
Includes 1942 and 1943 constitutions, proceedings of the 1945 convention, several broadsides and a membership list of Local No. 1.
Includes 1942 and 1943 constitutions, proceedings of the 1945 convention, several broadsides and a membership list of Local No. 1.
Includes 1942 and 1943 constitutions, proceedings of the 1945 convention, several broadsides and a membership list of Local No. 1.
Includes handwritten research notes.
Includes handwritten research notes.
Includes correspondence and a typescript of a pamphlet regarding Pittsburgh Steamship Company vs. NMU trial report by the NLRB.
Contains collective bargaining petitions with signatures.
Contains pamphlet "Pursers Sum it Up! It's NMU for You!" and broadsides.
Includes completed membership application cards, membership list and several pages of handwritten notes.
War risk insurance claim. He was on a merchant ship that was torpedoed in Black Sea and wounded.
Includes excerpt from Federal Register dated March 20, 1943.
Widow trying to collect insurance after death of her husband.
Proposed agreements and policies.
Service agreement.
Agreement with appendices.
Final Agreement and bulletin to NMU members.
Correspondence file.
Newspaper clippings, research notes, drafts of agreement, and lists of ships.
NMU adv. Pere Marquette (C&O), Ann Arbor Railroad, Grand Trunk Western Railway, and Wabash Railroad.
NMU adv. Pere Marquette (C&O), Ann Arbor Railroad, Grand Trunk Western Railway, and Wabash Railroad.
NMU adv. Pere Marquette (C&O), Ann Arbor Railroad, Grand Trunk Western Railway, and Wabash Railroad.
Contains The Inter Allied Review magazine.
CIO bulletins.
Opposing testimony delivered to the Senate Committee on Labor by Phillip Murray (president, CIO)
Opposing testimony and submissions to the Senate Committee on Labor.
Lobbying efforts by the CIO and the NMU.
Clippings file. Includes pamphlets "NMU Fights Jim Crow" and "Voting Restrictions in the 13 Southern States."
Reports on CIO lobbying against anti-Union legislation
Address by Senator James E. Murray
To provide benefits to members of the Merchant Marine who serve(d) during the war equivalent to those received by members of the armed forces.
Includes broadside.
Guaranteed a return to previous employment following service in the Merchant Marine and includes similar legislation introduced in New York State.
In re Case Bill (Anti-Union legislation) and NLRB.
In re Case Bill (Anti-Union legislation) and NLRB.
Amendment to the National Life Insurance Act of 1940 in order to make insurance available to Merchant Marines.
Includes various statement and report forms required to be filed by lobbyists with the clerk of the House.
Includes various statement and report forms required to be filed by lobbyists with the clerk of the House.
Giving funds to dependents of merchant marines killed in action.
Includes broadsides and handwritten notes. Referred to as "Seamen's Bill of Rights."
Includes broadsides and handwritten notes. Referred to as "Seamen's Bill of Rights."
Includes broadsides and handwritten notes. Referred to as "Seamen's Bill of Rights."
Sale of government owned merchant vessels.
Suspension of tariff and immigration law for the duration of the war.
For merchant marines.
For the naturalization of seamen who serve on an American vessel for at least three years.
Written by William Standard.
Letter from NMU condemning bill because of its targeting of immigrants and foreign national merchant seamen.
Letter from NMU condemning bill because of its targeting of immigrants and foreign national merchant seamen.
Affidavits from merchant seamen, who were on boats that were attacked and/or sank, describing lack of safety features on the cargo ships.
Reports on sinkings, firing on torpedoes sailors in the water, request for war crimes commission, and reports from ships carrying Lend-Lease cargo. Includes newspaper clippings, magazine article and pamphlet Who's Guilty?
Includes reprints from the Lawyers Guild Review V. III, No.
Includes reprints from the Lawyers Guild Review V. III, No.
Includes newspaper clippings.
Includes analysis by National Lawyers' Guild.
Includes CIO pamphlet "The Drive Against Labor."
In re HR 664, 684, and 498
Includes two boarding passes and agreement.
For merchant seamen injured in the line of duty
ICC proceedings regarding discrimination against African- American merchant seamen. Includes article by W. Standard, "Maritime Workers and the War: Railroad Discrimination Against Negro Seamen." Also includes Standard's research, case notes, and drafts of
ICC filings including affidavits and brief. Also newspaper clipping from NY Post "ICC Upholds Jim Crow."
ICC filing of complaint.
ICC filing of reply.
ICC filing of reply.
ICC filing of Exceptions and supporting points.
Correspondence file.
Correspondence file.
Correspondence, draft of Standard's article on discrimination for The Pilot (NMU newspaper), decision by ICC to support Jim Crow segregation, NY Post article "Big Railroads Accused of Encouraging Race Bias," and depositions of Clarence Brown and Thomas Jo
Facility located in Pass Christian, Mississippi. The town passed Jim Crow segregation ordinances to prohibit African-American merchant seamen from being treated there. The NMU appealed to the War Shipping Administration to stop the ordinance; it declined
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Includes newspaper clippings, statements, financial statement, numerous exhibits and press releases
Sedition trial for former NMU member; not represented by NMU. Includes newspaper clipping
February 20, 1943.
Discrimination. Segregated housing in Louisiana
Includes broadsides and pamphlets "It's Your Union" in re NMU elections. Also includes pamphlet "People's Rights and the 1944 Elections: A comparative record of Franklin D. Roosevelt vs. Thomas E. Dewey."
Includes broadsides and a sample ballot for the NMU elections.
Includes patent application with schematic drawings of three pins, two honoring NMU veterans of foreign wars and one celebrating merchant marines, and correspondence with the Library of Congress in re trademarking the NMU emblems.
Includes booklet "General Information Concerning Patents" and a magazine "The American Pilot" that the NMU felt was infringing upon their copyright.
List of 43 NMU members who's dependents filed claims.
Includes motions, statements, and bills of complaint.
In re petty suit against The Pilot (NMU's newsletter)
Includes pamphlet "The Challenge of Our Immigration Laws" by the American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born, a guide for port agents that lists acceptable immigration quotas.
Case of merchant seaman who was born in Portugal, but who lived in the U.S. from 9 months of age.
Includes witness statements and a copy of the legal retainer.
Recovery of owed wages
Correspondence from widow of merchant seaman
Contains meeting minutes
Arrested by Coast Guard for 'seditious acts,' cleared of all charges.
Includes broadsides and programs celebrating National Maritime Day.
Includes Wood Ad Mats (relief images) and broadside which uses Wood Ad Mats to print images. Also includes program for celebration, press releases, and invitations to the opening of the NMU War Memorial.
Checking to see if this is a social club or something else.
Includes pamphlet "What of Africa's Place in Tomorrow's World?" and several issues of the monthly bulletin New Africa. Includes signed, personal correspondence from Paul Robeson.
Merchant seaman who violated Volstead Act (Prohibition) and had to prove he served his sentence.
Includes issue of 5/16/47
Includes issue of 5/16/48
Correspondence
Obtain visa fro Raskin's wife
Includes the guide "An Outline - With Methods of Work for all Officials, Agents, Organizers and Patrolmen of the National Maritime Union."
Includes handwritten notes
NMU Trial, includes copy of indictment (for theft).
Investigation into workplace discrimination again seamen of color.
Includes briefs, magazine Sleepy Lagoon Mystery, broadsides, petitions, newsletter, booklet The Sleepy Lagoon Case. William Standard filed an Amicus Brief in the successful Appellate proceedings. The case involved 17 young men of Mexican descent being wro
Includes briefs, magazine Sleepy Lagoon Mystery, broadsides, petitions, newsletter, booklet The Sleepy Lagoon Case. William Standard filed an Amicus Brief in the successful Appellate proceedings. The case involved 17 young men of Mexican descent being wro
Includes booklets How to Calculate Benefits Under Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance and Old Age and Survivors Insurance for Workers and their Families
For merchant marines in post-war America.
Includes booklets Inflation: What Can We Do About It?; A Democratic Tax Program for America at War; An Equitable Pay-As-You-Go Tax Plan; and copies of the newsletter The Guild Lawyer dated April and September 1942
Includes booklet Men Against Torpedoes, articles of incorporation, and handwritten notes
Includes booklet Men Against Torpedoes, articles of incorporation, and handwritten notes
January 1947 - May 1947
November 1944 - March 1945
August 1945 - December 1946
March 1945 - July 1945
June 1944 - November 1944
March 1944 - June 1944
October 1943 - March 1944
Includes newspaper clipping, constitution, and tax exemption certificate.
Includes motions, depositions, memorandum and a report of charges. Member expelled from NMU
Includes motions, depositions, memorandum and a report of charges. Member expelled from NMU
Includes motions, depositions, memorandum and a report of charges. Member expelled from NMU
February 11, 1943
Two scrap books of newspaper clippings.