Established as the newspaper of organized labor in New England in 1989, the New England Labor News and Commentary was the official newspaper of the Nashua, N.H. Labor Council.

From its origins in 1899 as the Northampton Central Labor Union, the Northampton Labor Council coordinated political activity and worked for union cooperation in strikes, boycotts, and celebrations. With 29 unions in its ranks by 1903, it was one of the few labor councils to include both AFL and CIO affiliates during the period of their intense competition during the 1930s, however from 1945 until the AFL-CIO merger, CIO unions were excluded. By 1985, the NLC had 14 affiliated local unions.

As the coordinating body for the political and social activities of fourteen labor unions in Northampton, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area, the Labor Council generated union support for strikes, boycotts, and celebrations, and hosting annual Labor Day parades. Includes photocopies of four minutebooks, spanning the years 1933-1985.

One of the largest building trade unions in the U.S., the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was established in 1881 by a convention of carpenters’ union. Only five years after the union’s formation, the group joined with other unions to form the American Federation of Labor. Despite their early association with the AFL, the union left the now merged AFL-CIO more than a century later in 2001.

The collection consists of the records of the Massachusetts State Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, including by-laws, handbooks, reports, and the history of the union.

Chance and geography conspired early in the history of New England to lay a foundation for both industrialization and the rise of organized labor.

The Labor Collection includes miscellaneous manuscripts relating to organized labor, such as by-laws, reports, and agreements of Massachusetts locals of IUE, IBEW, Cigarmakers International, Bricklayers, and Retail Clerks among others.

An advocate for unionized construction workers in the state, the Massachusetts State Building and Construction Trades Council collection consists chiefly of conference proceedings.

Includes eleven of the thirteen newsletters published by the Labor and Community Network, a group of academics and trade unionists interested in labor issues in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Minutes, correspondence, membership lists, ledgers, and daybooks of the the Holyoke District Council and the local affiliates of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (Locals 656, 390 and 1503). Together with the records of the Pioneer Valley District Council and the Massachusetts State Council, this collection offers comprehensive documentation for the UCBJA in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts.

By-laws, minutes, and correspondence of the Pioneer Valley District Council and Affiliates of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Together with the records of the Massachusetts State Council and the Holyoke District Council, this collection offers comprehensive documentation for the UCBJA in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts

The first local of the Carpenters Union to appear in the Springfield, Massachusetts area was Local 96, chartered in 1885. Shortly thereafter, locals appeared in Holyoke (Local 390), Chicopee (Local 685), and several other Connecticut River Valley towns. Similarly, other locals emerged around ethnic groups, particularly French Canadians, who began to populate a signifigant portion of the trade. In 1906, Springfield locals formed a District Council to coordinate collective bargaining apprenticeship and work rules in the local construction industry. Holyoke carpenters soon followed by establishing their own council. In 1968, the Springfield Locals merged into one, Local 32, which in turn merged with the Holyoke District Council in 1973 to form Local 108.

By-laws, correspondence, and subject files of the Springfield District Council; minutes, local membership records, local and district financial records, contracts, agreements and trials, and some correspondence for Local 96 (Springfield), Local 685 (Chicopee), Local 177 (Springfield), Local 222 (Westfield), and Local 32 (Springfield).

Access to Trials records restricted until 2050.

Graduating from Harvard in the thick of the Great Depression, Arvo A. Solander worked as a civil and sanitary engineer for a variety of state and federal agencies, including the Civil Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. During the 1930s, as opportunity arose, he filled positions as a road engineer, in the design and construction of water and sewage plants, in pollution control, as a safety engineer in the shellfish industry, and in mosquito control, taking jobs throughout Massachusetts and as far away as Tennessee. After using his talents as an officer in the Sanitary Corps during the Second World War, based primarily in Arkansas, Solander returned home to Massachusetts and opened a private engineering office in South Hadley. He worked as a civil engineer and surveyor until his death in January 1976.

The Arvo Solander Papers consists of twenty-four bound volumes documenting thirty years of varied work as an engineer, including his contributions to the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir. Within the bound volumes are a wide range of reports, typescripts, sketches and diagrams, graphs, contracts and design specifications, photographs, and postcards.