Journeymen Stonecutters Association, Wheeling Branch, Records, 1890/1918

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

No special access restriction applies.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Journeymen Stonecutters Association, Wheeling Branch, Records, A&M 3768, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
2.08 Linear Feet 2 ft. 1 in. (4 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 flat storage box, 2 in.)
Creator:
Journeymen Stonecutters Association. Wheeling Branch
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Journeymen Stonecutters Association, Wheeling Branch, Records, A&M 3768, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Administrative labor union records of the local Wheeling branch of the Journeymen Stonecutters Association. Representing the interests of workers who cut and carve stone to ornament buildings, the Association is the oldest active union in North America, having been founded in 1853. Series in this collection include constitution and by-laws, strike file (1894), correspondence, ephemera, minutes, financial ledgers, roll call ledger, and oversize (including cash ledger and monthly reports). The minute book (recorded into a ledger) documents in some detail activities of the Wheeling local for the period 1891-1904.

This series contains pamphlets from both the national office and the Wheeling Branch.

This series includes agreement with the Ohio County Stone Contractors and Quarrymens Association.

This series includes a few pieces of correspondence.

This series includes an unfoldered scrapbook and union traveling cards and contribution cards. It also includes folder of material deemed to have "graphic interest" (box 1, folder 10); this folder contains, among other items, a receipt for "Levy for Louisville and Nashville Lockout" (1891); and a receipt for payment to "Little Falls Strikers Defence Fund" (Little Falls, New York, 1912). The scrapbook was assembled by the donor, and includes mostly an extensive set of union traveling cards.

This series includes one large ledger containing minutes of the Wheeling Branch for period 1891 February-1904 January and a small pocket book with short entries for circa 1893-1894.

Entries in these ledgers document mostly the collection of membership dues and also include names of members.

This series includes some check books, and mostly checks and receipts. The check book "stubs" dating from 1893 in box 3, folder 2, document benefits paid to strikers.

This series includes a cash ledger recording cash received and cash paid out to membership (including name index and some audit records), a set of monthly reports recording membership accounts by name (most records are between 1903-1918), and two unfoldered scrapbooks.

This series consists of one gavel.

Biographical / historical:

The Journeyman Stonecutters Association of North America is an organization representing the interests of workers who cut stone, and who carve statues and column capitals for ornamenting buildings. Founded in 1853, it is the oldest active union in North America, many of its individual locals having formed in the 1820s and 30s. By the 1960s union membership declined as a consequence of changing architectural tastes. It then merged with the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Acquisition information:
Purchase from Podratsky, Thaddeus, 2011 March 30
Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia & Regional History Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard