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Identifier/Call Number
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MS 110
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Description
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en
The records of the Western Massachusetts locals and district councils of the UBCJA documents the rise of unionization among carpenters in the Connecticut River Valley since the 1880s. This collection represents a merger of separate accessions for the District Councils in Springfield (MS 110), the Pioneer Valley (MS 231), and Holyoke (MS 108), along with post-merger records for Local 108. In general, each has been maintained as a distinct series.
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Copyright Statement and Conditions governing use
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Requests to publish, redistribute, or replicate this material should be addressed to Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries.
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Biography, Administrative History and Provenance
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en
With a long history of labor activism in their trade, Peter J. McQuire and Gustav Luebkert organized the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in 1881 to serve as a focal point for collective bargaining in the building trades. Holding its first convention in Chicago that August, the new union began to expand nationally, growing from barely 2,000 members in its first year to nearly 100,000 twenty years later./n
The first local of the UBCJA founded in western Massachusetts was chartered in 1885 as Springfield Local 96, followed in quick order by locals in Holyoke (Local 390), Chicopee (Local 685), and other towns. Several locals represented the ethnic and linguistic diversity of the region, with Locals 96, 685, and 390 drawing mostly from among French Canadians and Locals 177 (Springfield), 222 (Westfield), and 1888 (Holyoke) focused on Anglophones./n
With the pace of unionization picking up at the turn of the century, the Springfield District Council was established in 1906 and played an immediate role in coordinating collective bargaining, apprenticeship, and work rules in the local construction industry. Although Holyoke carpenters formed their own District Council soon thereafter, the logic of consolidation and a unified voice eventually prevailed. The Springfield locals consolidated as Local 32 in 1968, which in turn merged with the Holyoke District Council in 1973 to form Local 108./n
Provenance: Placed on deposit by the UBCJA, Jan. 1986.
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Extent
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57 boxes (30` linear feet)
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Arrangement
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en
Series 1. Springfield District Council, 1885-1973 - 40 boxes (23 linear feet)/n
For Springfield, the collection includes by-laws, correspondence, and subject files of the Springfield District Council along with minutes, membership records, financial records, contracts, agreements and trials, and some correspondence for Locals 96 (Springfield), 685 (Chicopee), 177 (Springfield), 222 (Westfield), and 32 (Springfield)./n
Series 2. Holyoke District Council, 1906-1978 - 10 boxes (4 linear feet)/n
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./n
Series 3. Pioneer Valley District Council, 1899-1978 - 7 boxes (3 linear feet)/n
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.
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Notes
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Reprocessed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Sept. 2015.
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Recommended Citation
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United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Springfield District Council Records (MS 110). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
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