United Shoe Workers of America, Local 117 records
Scope and Content
The United Shoe Workers of America, Local 117 records dates from 1914 to 1949, and document two strikes: March 20-June 9, 1914 and May 16-July 28, 1949. The collection includes newspaper clippings, printed statements and radio speeches, election advertisements, and publications.
Newspapers represented include New Daily Blade
, Portsmouth Daily Times, The Labor Review, The Cincinnati Enquirer
, and The Cincinnati Times-Star
. The 1914 clippings include statements by the major, announcements of benefits for the strikers, editorials, and reports of injunction suits and other trials. The clippings for 1949 include reports of the injunction suit and the results of the election between American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Dates
- Creation: 1914 - 1949
- Creation: Majority of material found within ( 1947-1949)
Creator
- United Shoe Workers of America. Local 117 (Organization)
Language of Materials
The records are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Ohio University Libraries.
Conditions Governing Use
Ohio University retains all property rights to the collection.
Ohio University retains all copyrights unless retained by the donor, other correspondents, or other artists.
History of United Shoe Workers of America, Local 117
The New England Council of the Committee for Industrial Organization merged three groups in 1937 to create the United Shoe Workers of America. The United Shoe Workers of America (USWA), Local 117 is based in Portsmouth, Ohio.
On March 20, 1914, the USWA District Council 9 called out the workers on a strike. Starting around the third day of the strike, there was continual violence and an injunction was filed against the strikers on April 4. Later that month, shoe companies began to import workers from Cincinnati and other towns. On June 9, the strike was called off.
The 1949 strike began when three companies, Selby, Excelsior, and Irving Drew, dropped their contracts and requested the employees to sign permanent wage and no-strike agreement or forfeit their jobs. The conflict centered on five major points: escalator clause, additional paid holiday, minimum rates of pay, length of contract, and cost of living bonus. Although negotiating committees repeatedly failed to agree, the company refused to arbitrate in matters concerning the wage scale. Instead they called for a secret ballot among the Union members. Negotiations came to a halt while an election decided between American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) representation. As in previous years, 1937 and 1945, CIO defeated the AFL. The strike was settled almost immediately and the plant was ready to begin producing soon after July 29, 1949.
Extent
0.33 Cubic Feet (1 legal manuscript box and 3 volumes)
Abstract
The United Shoe Workers of America, Local 117 records dates from 1914 to 1949, and document two strikes: March20-June9, 1914 and May 16-July 28, 1949. The collection includes newspaper clippings, printed statements and radio speeches, election advertisements, and publications.
Statement of Arrangement
This collection remains in its original arrangement.
Acquisition Information
The Ohio University Archives received the records of 1914 along with two bound volumes were donated by Jack Wallace, Vice-President of Local 117, in April 1978. In May 1979, the other materials were transferred from the Ohio Historical Society. The collection was acquired as part of the Ohio Labor History Project.
Description Note
Original, legacy collection inventories may contain inaccuracies or be incomplete. Collection descriptions may change or be updated as they are verified. Please contact Mahn Center staff if you note any errors or discrepancies.
Subject
- United Shoe Workers of America. Local 117 (Portsmouth, Ohio) (Organization)
- Title
- Finding aid for the United Shoe Workers of America, Local 117 records
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Pamela Kircher in July 1979
- Date
- 2020
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
- Sponsor
- The finding aid was converted into EAD with funding support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Revision Statements
- 5 January 2024: Subjects and other notes added from ALICE MARC records and Mahn Center Microsoft Office finding aids by Ohio University Libraries Metadata Services Department Python scripts.
Repository Details
Part of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections Repository
