A&M 1698Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers A&M 1698Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History CenterWest Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave. P.O. Box 6069 Morgantown, WV 26506-6069Business Number: 304-293-3536wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.comURL:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-08-30 08:09:13 -0400.EnglishDescribing Archives: A Content Standard West Virginia and Regional History Center Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers Bittner, Van A. (Van Amberg), 1885-1949 A&M 1698 Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key /repositories/2/resources/6223 6.42 Linear Feet 6 ft. 5 in. (13 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 document case, 3 in.; 1 small flat storage box, 3 in.; 1 large flat storage box, 3 in.; 1 unboxed scrapbook, 3 in.) 1908-1961 UMWA international representative and organizer, member of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, director of the CIO Organizing Committee, and vice-chairman of the CIO Political Action Committee Correspondence, legal papers, diaries, clippings, and other papers relate to Bittner's early career in the western Pennsylvania coal fields; his presidency of District 5, UMWA, 1911-1916; and his organizational activities in southeastern Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, northern West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 1916-1928. Subjects include labor strife and strikes in West Virginia, 1912-1913, 1924-1928, Alabama, 1920-1921, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 1911, and Oklahoma and Kansas, 1922; UMWA intra-union affairs; relief for striking miners; Kansas Industrial Court; Workers Communist Party; Red International of Labor Unions; American Association for Labor Legislation; National League of People's McAdoo Clubs; labor trouble in Montana, 1920; the railway assigned coal car problem; and Bittner's activities on various state and national labor boards and committees. There are photographs of mining towns, camps, and tent colonies, labor parades, conventions, demonstrations, and strikes; portraits of labor leaders; and pictures of the Irwin, Pennsylvania coalfield strike of 1911, the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, and the northern West Virginia strikes of 1924-1926. Frank Farrington, William Green, Frank J. Hayes, John L. Lewis, John Mitchell, Philip Murray, and John P. White are included among the correspondents. A detailed listing of the correspondence in boxes 1-7 is available upon request. 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: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/ English Conditions Governing Access

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Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers, A&M 1698, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Separated Materials

6 photos separated to A&M 4168, Panoramic Photos Collection:

District 17 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Golden Jubilee Convention, Columbus, OH, 1940 January 23-1940 February 01; 1940 January-February

5th Constitutional Convention, Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), Boston, MA.; 1942 November 09

Members Policy Committee, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Hollenden Hotel, Cleveland, OH; 1922 August 07

6th Annual Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) Convention, Bellevue Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, PA; 1943 November 01

1st Constitutional Convention Banquet, United Steelworkers of America, Public Auditorium, Cleveland, OH; 1942 May 20

2nd Constitutional Convention, United Steelworkers of America, Cleveland, OH, 1944 May 09-1944 May 13; 1944 May

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Alabama Kansas Kentucky Montana Oklahoma Tennessee Coal mining - camps and company towns. Coal mining - Labor organization. Coal mining -- Strikes Diaries and journals. American Association for Labor Legislation Workers (Communist) Party of America Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.) Kansas Industrial Court National League of People's McAdoo Clubs Red International of Labor Unions Steel Workers Organizing Committee (U.S.) United Mine Workers of America. District 5 United Mine Workers of America Bittner, Van A. (Van Amberg), 1885-1949 Farrington, Frank. Green, William. Hayes, Frank J. Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn), 1880-1969 Mitchell, John. Murray, Philip, 1886-1952 White, John P. (John Phillip), 1870-1934 Series 1. Correspondence (Boxes 1-7)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937641908-19501234567CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937691908-1920 July1CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937701920 August - 1920 November2CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937711920 November 11 - 1920 December 203CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937721920 December 21 - 1921 February 104CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937731921 February 11 - 1921 March 205CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937741921 March 21 - 1922 December6CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937751923 January - 19507Series 2. Legal Papers, Speeches, and Programs (Box 8)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937651920-19228Series 3. Personal Papers (Box 9)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937661909-19479Series 4. Printed Material (Boxes 10 & 11, 12)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937671907-1961101112Printed material, clippings, etcArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/1937761907-196110Printed material, clippings, etcArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/193777undated11PublicationsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/193778undated12Series 5. Scrapbooks (Boxes 11A-11B, 13)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/193768undated11A11B13