Online Archival Resources Guide

A collection of photographs documenting Charlotte Smith Graham, dressmaker and labor organizer, who was born in Dallas in 1912. One of twelve founders of a Dallas "sewing circle" that affiliated with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in 1935, she remained active in union affairs for more than forty years.

A collection of photographs documenting Clyde Johnson (1908-1994). He was a labor organizer and writer involved in several different labor unions throughout his life. A communist early in his life, he was committed to social justice and the plight of the worker. Johnson worked most often in an organizing capacity, at various times, with students, foundry workers, iron workers, coal workers, agricultural workers, oil workers, electrical workers, sharecroppers, dairy workers, pecan shellers, and carpenters. One such effort was from 1942 to 1943, when he served as the Southern Director for the CIO Oil Workers Organizing Campaign to actively organize Texas oil workers.

A collection of photographs documenting the Dallas Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A. It was a local affiliate of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Operators of the United States and Canada. Local 249-A was chartered on November 1, 1949 and was comprised of African American motion picture operators in Dallas, Texas. On February 11, 1969, Local 249-A merged with Local 249, which had previously been an all-white local.

A collection of photographs documenting Edward L. Dato. Born in 1890, he joined the Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, Local 96, Fort Worth, Texas, as an apprentice in 1910. He was elected President of Local 96 in 1914, and held every office in the lodge during his lifetime. He died in 1976.

A collection of photographs documenting George and Latane Lambert. George Lambert was an organizer for the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Latane Lambert was a representative for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the CIO as well as a leader in the Democratic Party of Texas.

A collection of photographs documenting Howard and Elizabeth Broyles. Howard Broyles was an active member of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local 53, Dallas, Texas. His wife, Elizabeth Broyles, was a member of the local's Ladies Auxiliary 1.

A collection of photographs documenting the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 20. The Electrical Wiremen and Linemen's Union No. 5221, founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1890. Sufficient interest was shown in a national union, and the National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (NBEW) was officially formed in 1891. The American Federation of Labor chartered the NBEW as an AFL affiliate that same year. At the 1899 convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the union's name was officially changed to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Today the labor union represents nearly 750,000 workers and retirees. The IBEW, Local 20, Dallas, Texas, is a current and longstanding union local.

A collection of photographs documenting the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Local 180 (San Antonio, TX) Records. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was founded, June 3, 1900, in New York and was chartered by the American Federation of Labor on June 23, 1900. The labor union represented workers in the women and children's apparel industries and was mostly comprised of female workers. The ILGWU established its first Texas local in Dallas in 1934, and successful organization efforts in Houston and San Antonio followed shortly thereafter. Notable strikes were carried out by the Dallas and San Antonio locals in the 1930's and the San Antonio local in the 1950s and 1960s.

A collection of photographs documenting J. W. Jackson. He was born on November 17, 1923 in Lubbock County. He served in the Navy during WWII. He joined the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in June 1950, and became the official business representative of Local 977 in 1960. In 1975 he was named the president of Wichita Falls Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO. He formally retired in 1984.

A collection of photographs documenting James D. Wright. He was born on July 19, 1936. He was an air traffic controller and member of PATCO. He participated in both the 1970 PATCO sick-out and the 1981 PATCO strike.

A collection of photographs documenting the United Farm Workers and the organizations that supported its efforts to alleviate the plight of the farm workers, including the Farm Worker Emergency Relief Fund, Friends of the Farm Workers, National Student Committee for Farmworkers, and Tarrant County Friends of the Farm Workers.

A collection of photographs documenting Francisco F. Medrano (1920-2002), better known as Pancho Medrano. He was a prominent figure in local labor and civil rights movements beginning in 1960. Medrano's papers document his labor, civil rights, and political activities.

A collection of photographs documenting the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). It was organized in Chicago, Illinois, on July 1, 1968. Washington, D.C. became the headquarters. The 1981 controllers strike began on August 3 and initiated what was to become one of the worst defeats ever for organized labor.

A collection of photographs documenting John W. Hays. He was born in Rusk County, Texas, in 1908. He grew up in Dallas where he worked as a newsboy, circulation salesman, pressman, and press operator for the four Dallas newspapers with most of his career being with the Dallas Times-Herald. He joined the Dallas Newspaper Printing Pressmen’s Union Local No. 21 in 1928 and served as secretary, vice-president, and president. He was active in Dallas and Texas politics and the labor movement on the local, state, and national levels. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants’ Union of North America. He often used the nickname Preacher.

A collection of photographs documenting Samuel A. Twedell. He was a union organizer, 1933-1948. In 1948, he was the first organizer elected as an International Vice-President of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America. Also in 1948, he assumed directorship of its District 5. Twedell retired in July, 1968.

A collection of photographs documenting the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board. The Texas AFL-CIO was formed on July 29, 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.

A collection of photographs documenting the Texas State Federation of Labor. It was formed in 1900 in Cleburne, Texas as a statewide organization to represent the interests of Texas union members and labor movements.

A collection of photographs documenting Local 276 of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, also known as the UAW. The local was organized for workers at the General Motors Corporation assembly plant in Arlington, Texas and was chartered on March 11, 1954. The headquarters of Local 276 was located in neighboring Grand Prairie, Texas.

A collection of photographs documenting the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, Fort Worth Boycott Records. A group of Tarrant County citizens that organized in 1969 to support and aid farm workers on strike in California and Texas initially called itself the Tarrant County Grape Boycott Committee. In August 1969 the group began publishing the newsletter, Boycott Voice, and, in November of the same year, hosted a visit to Fort Worth by Cesar Chavez. In December 1969, the organization changed its name to the Friends of the Farm Workers and then, in late 1970 or early 1971, to the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC).