Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Photographs

Collection Number: 5149 P

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Photographs, 1924-1960

Collection Number:

5149 P

Creator:

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT)

Quantity:

0.4 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Photographs.

Repository:

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library

Abstract:

Photographs that come largely from Pennsylvania, with a large portion from the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board, B.R.T.

Language:

Collection material in English

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen was founded in 1883 in Oneonta, N.Y. as a protective and insurance organization. By the time of its merger with three other railroad labor unions to form the United Transportation Union in 1969, it had the greatest membership of any of the operating railroad brotherhoods.

The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) was established to represent members' interests in obtaining a satisfactory contract with management. The first Canadian lodge was established in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1885, and the first Ladies' Auxiliary was organized in Fort Gratiot, Mich. in 1889. These records reflect the union's political and fraternal activities as well as its actions in the areas of collective bargaining, grievances, and railroad and labor legislation. As the largest of the unions which merged to form the United Transportation Union in 1969, the bulk of its then current files formed the basis for the files now held in the merged union's headquarters.

The rail service members of the BRT included conductors and their assistants, dining car stewards, ticket collectors, train baggagemen, brakemen, and train flagmen. The yard service members of the BRT included yardmasters, yard conductors, switchtenders, foremen, flagmen, brakemen, switchmen, car tenders, operators, hump riders, and car operators. In 1933, the BRT organized interstate bus operators, and included them under BRT contracts held with U.S. bus companies.

BRT officers were elected at the Grand Lodge Convention of the Brotherhood, held every 4 years. The principal officers included a president, an assistant to the president, a general secretary-treasurer, Canadian and national legislative representatives, a senior vice-president, BRT representative, and National Railroad Board of Adjustment representative. The BRT had four governing boards: the Board of Directors, Board of Trustees and Insurance, Board of Appeals, and Executive Board.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

This is a collection of photographs that come largely from Pennsylvania, with a large portion from the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board, B.R.T.

SUBJECTS

Names:

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen

Subjects:

Railroads -- United States.

Form and Genre Terms:

Photographs.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Access Restrictions:

Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.

Restrictions on Use:

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

Cite As:

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Photographs #5149 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

RELATED MATERIALS

CONTAINER LIST

Container		Description	Date
Box 1	Folder 1	Caboose 91526, Jersey Central Lines	1960
		Caboose 91526, Jersey Central Lines, 1960. J. Lechner (Conductor) and C. K. Jenkins (Flagman) are not pictured.
Box 1	Folder 2	Joe Lechner with Caboose 91526
		Conductor Joe Lechner with Caboose 91526. His clothes are still clean and the waybills are on inside pockets
Box 1	Folder 3	BRT Caboose	1924
		Historic caboose in which the B. of R. T. was founded on September 23, 1883; dedicated on September 28, 1924 at Neahwa Park in Oneonta, NY.
Box 1	Folder 4	Pennsylvania
		"Pennsylvania" on display at New York's World Fair
Box 1	Folder 5	Miscellaneous
		removed from 5149 box 31, ff4
Box 1	Folder 6	Lodge #1, Part 2
		removed from 5149, box 22, folder (Lodge #1, Part 2)
Box 1	Folder 7	Photos transferred from 5149, box 132, ff32
		no other info
Box 1	Folder 8	Pennsylvania State Leg. Bd. B.R.T. - pt. 1
		found in box 132 of 5149, unfoldered
Box 1	Folder 9	Pennsylvania State Leg. Bd. B.R.T. - pt. 2
		found in box 132 of 5149, unfoldered
Box 1	Folder 10	Pennsylvania State Leg. Bd. B.R.T. - pt. 3 - Negatives
		found in box 132 of 5149, unfoldered
Box 2	Folder 1	Oversize photos
		7 oversize photos sorted out of the 'misc. photos' box that has been stored over the mapcase ; and B.R.T. National Legislative Conference Cleveland, Ohio - August 21-23, 1943 ; Eleventh Biennial Convention, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen ; Eleventh Bien
Box 3		Images digitized from the collection.

Contents

Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Photographs

Collection Number: 5149 P

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library