Photo highlights from the Texas Labor Archives

The purpose of The Compass Rose is to raise awareness of Special Collections' resources and to foster the use of these resources. The blog series also reports significant new programs, initiatives, and acquisitions of Special Collections.

The Texas Labor Archives contain archival materials from a wide variety of organizations related to labor in Texas, including union locals, labor councils, statewide labor organizations, and district and regional offices of international unions. These materials date back to 1870 and consists of numerous different formats, ranging from meeting minutes and correspondence to political flyers and buttons. Some of the most striking material in the Texas Labor Archives are photographs, which are the focal point of this blog post. Collection descriptions are mostly sourced from their respective finding aids (all of which are linked from this blog post), while photograph captions are, with a few minor modifications, the same as they appear on the Digital Gallery (and each image is likewise linked to its respective page on the Digital Gallery).

The first collection featured is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, which includes over four million negatives in total. While not explicitly a labor collection, it contains numerous high-quality photographs documenting the history of labor in Texas. Here are some of the very best labor-related photos from the Star-Telegram Collection, most of which document strikes in and around Fort Worth:

The next set of photographs are from the Pancho Medrano Papers. Francisco F. "Pancho" Medrano was a prominent figure in the local labor and civil rights movements beginning in 1960. Medrano's papers document his labor, civil rights, and political activities and contain correspondence, newspapers, newspaper clippings, photographs, leaflets, flyers, newsletters, articles, and booklets. Photographic highlights from his papers include:

The next collection featured is the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board Records. The Texas AFL-CIO was formed in 1957 when the Texas State Federation of Labor and the Texas State CIO Council merged. The organization, a federation of local unions and central labor councils in Texas, is a central body that represents labor interests and acts as the policy-making, educational, and legislative arm of AFL-CIO labor at the state level. This collection includes records pertaining to the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board and contain correspondence, minutes, financial records, reports, lists, speeches, newspaper clippings, biographical sketches, photographs, a manual, applications, printed material, and memorabilia. Here are a couple of the most remarkable photographs from the collection:

The next collection to be featured is the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Local 180 Records. These records include clippings, photographs, flyers, printed material, reports, correspondence, and financial ledgers. Many materials pertain to the strike of the Tex-Son factory by Local 180 in 1959. The strike was marked by violent episodes, and supporters from across Texas rallied to support the strikers. Photographic highlights from the collection include:

The next photograph comes from the Charlotte Graham Papers. Her papers consist of correspondence, a scrapbook, photographs, negatives, and printed materials. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings dealing primarily with the strikes in which Graham participated, some photographs, broadsides, cards, and certificates. Other photographs include mostly images of Graham and other labor activists in formal and informal poses. Here is one particularly striking photograph from the collection:

The next photograph is from the Dallas Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A Records. Chartered in 1949, the Dallas Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A was an all-African American labor union of motion picture operators in Dallas. In 1969, Local 249-A merged with Local 249, a previously all-white labor union representing the same profession. Records of Local 249-A consist of minutes, photographs, legal documents, newspaper clippings, and a booklet. Here is one excellent photograph from the collection:

The next photograph to be featured is from the Howard and Elizabeth Broyles Collection. Husband and wife Howard and Elizabeth Broyles were active members of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local 53, of Dallas and its Ladies Auxiliary 1, respectively. This collection contains a photograph, a badge and a ribbon, a working card, a letter, and a page from a souvenir program. Here is that photograph:

The next photograph is from the Barclay Family Photographs. This collection is comprised of digital images of family and labor photographs of the Barclay family. The donor loaned the original photographs for preservation scans; the original photos were then returned to the donor. Here is a featured photograph from the collection:

The final photograph featured in this blog post is from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 20 Records. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 20, was originally formed as Local 643 on January 29, 1909. IBEW Local 188 of Dallas was incorporated into the current Local 20. Here is a featured photograph from the collection: