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Labor Archives of Washington: Labor Scholars & Researchers

LAW contains records from individuals and organizations that document the local, national and international dimensions of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest.

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What's in this Guide

The Labor Archives of Washington (LAW) was founded to preserve the records of working people and their unions and to serve as a center for historical research, ensuring that new generations have access to the rich labor history of the region. For more information about LAW visit the website.

The Labor Archives contains more than 300 separate collections of labor related materials from individuals and organizations documenting the local, national and international dimensions of the labor movement in the Pacific Northwest. 

Many unions have made the Labor Archives the official repository for their historical records -- minutes, office correspondence, membership files, publications and contracts.

Labor leaders, attorneys, arbitrators, and rank-and-file workers, and labor rights supporters have donated their personal papers.

Records from organizations that supported organized labor, worker's rights, and civil rights and also records from labor critics and opponents. Also included are records of employers, some of which were the collective bargaining partners--and sometimes opponents--of unions.

Selected resources and research tips for labor history researchers and those interested in ethnic, social, local, political, and women's history.

Donating Items to the Labor Archives

Our current collecting focus is labor organizations, labor union members and officers, and workers in the Pacific Northwest. Organizational donors may have a statewide, regional, or even a national mission, but usually have a strong tie with the local area as well.

Consult Conor Casey (206.685.3976 or cmcasey@uw.edu) for donating labor-related organizational records or personal papers.

Related Links and Guides

Labor Union Members and Officers

Labor Studies/Labor History Organizations

Labor Scholars and Researchers

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters

Workers' Rights and Civil Rights Organizations- Records of organizations that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but were not labor unions.

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Conor Casey
Contact:
Conor M. Casey, MA, MLIS, CA
Head, Labor Archives of Washington


Libraries Special Collections

Labor Archives of Washington

Mail: Box 352900, Seattle, WA 98133-2900

Allen Library South, Basement/B81D

206.685.3976 fax 206.543.1931
206.685.3976
Website

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Listing of Labor Archives Collections

Guides to Personal Papers

Personal papers donated by labor union leaders, attorneys, arbitrators, rank-and-file workers, and labor rights supporters.

Papers of individuals who were labor union officers, members, and activists. 

Papers of academics, authors, and other researchers who investigated labor history and the lives of workers. Some of these collections contain the research files and manuscripts of published works.

Papers of individuals that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but may not have been members of labor unions. 

Occupational histories of individual workers. Many of these collections contain narratives or documentation of their worklives. 

Guides to Organizational Records

Records from organizations that supported organized labor, worker's rights, and civil rights and also records from labor critics and opponents. Also included are records of some employers, some of which were the collective bargaining partners--and sometimes opponents--of unions.

 

Records of the organizations that are the collective bargaining agents of workers. Also includes regional labor councils, which are composed of local union affiliates.

Records of organizations that advocated equality in the workplace, fought discrimination on the job, or advocated new pro-labor sociopolitical relations but were not labor unions.

Records of organizations formed by workers in a particular trade or profession but which were not collective bargaining agents.

 

Records of government bodies that are related to labor.

 

Records and papers from employers.

Union Collections

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Organizational records for labor unions, organizations which serve as the collective bargaining agent of workers in relation to employers

Labor Unionists

Labor Union Members and Officers

Labor Scholars & Researchers

Labor Scholars and Researchers

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters

Labor/Civil Rights Activists & Supporters