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Abstract

Four local unions located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, that joined in 1939 and became the first affiliates of the New Bedford Joint Board of the Textile Workers Union of America. Includes by-laws, minutes of board of directors and local meetings, correspondence, subject files, photographs, and scrapbooks relating to the administration of the New Bedford Joint Board, documenting its role in addressing grievances filed against individual companies, in facilitating arbitration, and hearing wage stabilization Board cases.

Access

The collection is open for research.

Language:

English.
Textile Workers of America New Bedford Joint Board Records, 1942-1981
19 boxes (9 linear ft.)
Call no.: MS 134

Background on Textile Workers of America New Bedford Joint Board

The Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) was created in 1939, formed from a combination of the Textile Workers Organizing Committee (TWOC-CIO) and the United Textile Workers of America (UTWA). At the time, there were four local unions in the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts (Locals 19, 30, 46, and 136), all under the jurisdiction of TWOC-CIO. With the creation of TWUA in 1939, these locals affiliated themselves with the New Bedford Joint Board. At its peak, the New Bedford Joint Board, TWUA represented approximately 14,000 workers. For more information about the Textile Workers Union of America and the New Bedford, see the pamphlets and booklets in box 19.

Contents of Collection

By-laws, minutes of board of directors and local meetings, correspondence, subject files, photographs, and scrapbooks relating to the administration of the New Bedford Joint Board, documenting its role in addressing grievances filed against individual companies, in facilitating arbitration, and hearing wage stabilization Board cases. Correspondents include J. William Belanger (first president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO), Victor Canzano (a member of the Executive Council of TWUA), John Chupka (general secretary-treasurer of TWUA), Arthur Harriman (mayor of New Bedford), and William Pollock (an executive vice president and later general president of TWUA). The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, dated from 1960 to 1971, that pertain to the New Bedford Joint Board and labor issues concerning the state of Massachusetts and the nation as a whole.

Organization of the Collection

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Inventory of Collection
1947-1970
By-laws 1954, 1961
Box 1: 1-2
New Bedford Joint Board History 1964
Box 1: 3
Board of Directors, Minutes 1947-1967
Box 1: 4-13
Berkshire-Hathaway Coordinating Committee, Minutes 1961-1962
Box 2: 14
Local 30, Minutes 1959-1960
Box 2: 15
Local 590, Minutes 1954-1960
Box 2: 16-17
Local 616, Minutes 1959-1960
Box 2: 18
Local 1123, Minutes 1959-1960
Box 2: 19
Local 1124, Minutes 1959-1960
Box 2: 20
Local 1129, Minutes 1954-1960
Box 2: 21-22
Local 1192, Minutes 1960
Box 2: 23
Local 1393, Minutes 1959
Box 2: 24
Local Petitions 1958-1960
Box 2: 25
Correspondence - General 1965-1968
Box 3: 26-29
AFL-CIO 1949-1957
Box 3: 30
Belanger, J. Wm. 1959-1964
Box 3: 31-32
Canzano, Victor 1959-1966
Box 3: 33-37
Chupka, John 1960-1967
Box 4: 38-44
Mayor, Harriman, Arthur 1951
Box 4: 45
Legislative Comm. 1955-1965
Box 4: 46
Pollock, William 1959-1970
Box 4: 47-49

1944-1981
CIO Veterans Committee 1944-1946
Box 5: 50
Dyers and Printers Pension Fund 1950-1951
Box 5: 51
Labor Day Celebrations 1952-1957
Box 5: 52
Leadership Training Institute 1962
Box 5: 53
Massachusetts (State) Advisory Committee on the Textile Industry 1950-1962
Box 5: 54
Massachusetts AFL-CIO Conventions 1966-1977
Box 5: 55-57
Massachusetts Division of Employment Security 1946-1956
Box 5: 58
Massachusetts Workmen's Compensation Laws 1946-1952
Box 5: 59
New Bedford & Cape Cod Labor Council 1956-1968
Box 5: 60-61
New Bedford Fair Employment Practices Council 1949-1950
Box 5: 62
New Bedford Joint Board, Officer Installations 1949-1959
Box 6: 63
New Bedford Textile Institute 1951-1958
Box 6: 64
Steward's Manual n.d.
Box 6: 65
Teamsters 1962
Box 6: 66
TWUA Conventions 1958-1981
Box 6: 67
TWUA Cotton and Rayon Conference 1947
Box 6: 68
TWUA Institutes 1951-1964
Box 6: 69
TWUA Tenth Anniversary 1949
Box 6: 70
TWUA Woolen and Worsteds Conference 1947
Box 6: 71
Unemployment 1944-1947
Box 6: 72
United States Department of Labor 1951-1956
Box 6: 73
United Textile Workers 1957
Box 6: 74
Vacation Pay 1950
Box 6: 75
War Manpower Commission Case 1945
Box 6: 76

1942-1977
Subseries A. Arbitration

General Information 1948-1976
Box 7: 77
American Arbitration Association 1955-1977
Box 7: 78
American Woolen Company 1949-1954
Box 7: 79
Alanjo, Inc. 1947
Box 7: 80
Allen Beam Co. 1945-1951
Box 7: 81-82
Fawcett Mills 1962
Box 7: 83
Firestone Textiles 1945-1949
Box 7: 84-88
Fisk Card Mills 1951
Box 7: 89-90
Gosnold Mills Corp. 1946-1954
Box 7: 91-93
Kilburn Mill 1949-1950
Box 8: 94-96
Nashwena Mills 1944-1949
Box 8: 97-100
Naushon Mills 1944-1948
Box 8: 101-102
New Bedford Cordage 1942-1953
Box 8: 103-107
New Bedford Cotton Manufacturer's Association 1944-1945
Box 8: 108-110
New Bedford Cotton Textile Mills 1946
Box 8: 111
New Bedford - Fall River Manufacturer's Association 1946-1949
Box 8: 112-113
Nonquitt Mills 1943-1946
Box 8: 114-116
Nonquitt Mills 1949-1950
Box 9: 117-118
Normandy Print Works 1949
Box 9: 119
Pierce Brothers 1947-1950
Box 9: 120-124
Rayon Company 1942-1962
Box 9: 125-134
Rayon Company 1962-1968
Box 10: 135-143
Seaplant Chemical Corp. 1952-1957
Box 10: 144-147
Soule Mills 1943-1947
Box 10: 148-156
Soule Mills 1948-1949
Box 11: 157-160
United States Rubber Co. 1944-1953
Box 11: 161-168
Wamsutta Mills 1948-1950
Box 11: 169-171
Wamsutta Mills 1956-1959
Box 12: 172-175
Subseries B. Grievances

General File - Grievance Ledger 1943-1953
Box 13: 176
Alanjo, Inc. 1948
Box 13: 177
Allen Beam 1955-1957
Box 13: 178-179
Cameo Curtains 1972-1974
Box 13: 180
Gosnold Mills Corp. 1950-1954
Box 13: 181-189
Hathaway Manufacturing Co. 1949
Box 13: 190-191
Kilburn Mill 1943-1950
Box 13: 192
Krim-Ko 1952-1959
Box 13: 193
Lambeth Corp. 1946-1977
Box 13: 194
Nashwena Mills 1945-1952
Box 14: 195-201
Naushon Mills 1943-1948
Box 14: 202
New Bedford Cordage 1947-1959
Box 14: 203
New Bedford Knitting Co. 1955
Box 14: 204
New Bedford Rayon Co. 1943-1970
Box 14: 205
Nonquitt Mills 1944
Box 14: 206
Normandy Print Works 1951-1952
Box 14: 207
Quisset Screen Print 1943-1950
Box 14: 208-209
Rubin, J. &- Sons 1964-1965
Box 14: 210
Salco Products Corp. 1961
Box 14: 211
Soule Mill 1943-1954
Box 14: 212
Soule Mill 1949-1953
Box 15: 213-223
United States Rubber Co. 1944-1953
Box 15: 224-225
Wamsutta Mills 1943-1957
Box 15: 226-230
Retirement Notices - Soule Mill 1955-1957
Box 16: 231
Retirement Notices - Berkshire-Hathaway 1959-1963
Box 16: 232
Vacation Pay Disputes 1944-1947
Box 16: 233
Subseries C. Massachusetts Wage Stabilization Board Cases

WSB Manual 1951
Box 17: 234
General Information 1951-1953
Box 17: 235-239
Allen Beam Co. 1951
Box 17: 240
Gosnold Mill 1951
Box 17: 241
Kilburn Mill 1951
Box 17: 242
Krim-Ko Corp. 1951
Box 17: 243
Lillie, Dexter P. 1951
Box 17: 244
Nashwena 1951
Box 17: 245
New Bedford Cordage 1951
Box 17: 246
New Bedford Joint Board 1951
Box 17: 247
New Bedford Knitting Co. 1951
Box 17: 248
New Bedford Rayon Co. 1951
Box 17: 249
New Bedford Shuttle Co. 1951
Box 17: 250
New England Stencil Co. 1951
Box 17: 251
Normandy Print Works 1951-1952
Box 17: 252
Quisset Print Works 1952
Box 17: 253
Sedman Weaving Corp. 1951
Box 17: 254
Soule Mill 1951
Box 17: 255
United State Rubber Co. 1951
Box 17: 256
Universal Converting Corp. 1951
Box 17: 257
Wamsutta Mill 1951
Box 17: 258

1944-1971
NLRB Non-Communist Affidavits 1955-1956
Box 18: 259-265
New Bedford Silver Anniversary Booklet 1964
Box 19: 266
"Building a Textile Union" 1948
Box 19: 267
"They Said It Couldn't Be Done" 1964
Box 19: 268
"Field Day, Lincoln Park, 1944" Souvenir 1944
Box 19: 269
Scrapbook 1960-1961
Box 19: 270
Scrapbook 1966-1968
Box 19: 271
Scrapbook 1970-1971
Box 19: 272

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Provenance

Acquired from Bronwen Zwirner, ACTWU, Education Director, New England Joint Board.

Processing Information

Processed by Ken Fones-Wolf, February 1988.

Acknowledgments

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Copyright and Use (More informationConnect to publication information)

Cite as: Textile Workers Union of America New Bedford Joint Board Records (MS 134). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

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Names and Subject Terms
Subjects
  • Congress of Industrial Organizations.
  • Labor unions--Massachusetts--New Bedford.
  • New Bedford (Mass.)--Economic conditions--20th century.
  • Textile industry--Massachusetts.
Contributors
  • Belanger, J. William.
  • Canzano, Victor.
  • Chupka, John.
  • Harriman, Arthur.
  • Pollock, William.
  • Textile Workers Union of America. New Bedford Joint Board.