1.   Historical note

2.   Scope and content

3.   Provenance

4.   Inventory

5.   Subjects


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    R.I.H.S. Library page

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 Records of the Textile Workers Union of America, Local #28

 Trade union, Pawtucket, R.I.

 Records, 1946-1961. Bulk, 1947-1949.

 Size: 0.75 linear feet

 Catalog number: MSS 1053

 Processed by: Rick Stattler, May 2000


©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:


            The Textile Workers Union of America was a trade union founded in 1939 as an affiliate of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Like many of the CIO unions, the TWUA had a significant number of Communist Party members in leadership roles in its early years. Local #28 represented the workers of the Peerless Manufacturing Company and the Peerless Throwing Company of Pawtucket, R.I., which manufactured rayon goods. Local #28 answered to the Roger Williams Joint Board of the TWUA, which included the various TWUA locals in the Pawtucket area. In 1949, many of the Communists in the TWUA were expelled from membership, including John Hovan, president of Local #28.


The local's presidents during the period covered by this collection were:

--- Trahan                   July 1946 - April 1947

--- Lippe                     April 1947 - September 1947

Ernest Senecal            October 1947 - January 1949

John G. Hovan            January 1949 - December 1949


Bibliography:

Buhle, Mari Jo, ed. Encyclopedia of the American Left, 772-773. New York: Garland, 1990.

Pawtucket directories, 1946-1950.


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Scope and content:


            The bulk of these records relate to membership in Local #28 between 1946 and 1949. Detailed information is available about all Peerless employees who were union members during this brief period. The collection also include some reports, minutes and other interesting records from this period.

            Two letters to President Hovan from the TWUA Pawtucket joint board suggest his expulsion due to Communist Party membership. One, dated June 6 1949, reprimands him for inviting a speaker from Brown University's Lincoln Society to address a meeting of Local #28 officers, and demands that he read the reprimand to his members. The other letter, dated July 20 1950, denies his request for reinstatement to the TWUA.


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Provenance:


            These records were given by John G. Hovan to labor historian Scott Molloy. Molloy donated the records to the R.I. Historical Society in 2000. Five items were transferred to the Printed Collection: three TWUA contracts dated 1945-1948; TWUA Pawtucket Joint Board by-laws; and "Labor Spotlight," volume 1, #3 (a 1954 newsletter published by the Communist Party of Rhode Island).


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Inventory:


Series 1: General

Box 1, folder 1. Arbitration file, 1946

Box 1, folder 2. Constitution and by-laws, Roger Williams Joint Board, undated (2 versions)

Box 1, folder 3. Constitution, T.W.U.A. national organization, 1946 and 1948 (printed)

Box 1, folder 4. Contract, unsigned [1947]

Box 1, folder 5. Correspondence, general, 1947-1948

Box 1, folder 6. Correspondence, John G. Hovan, 1947-1961

Box 1, folder 7. Minutes, 1946

Box 1, folder 8. Paid bills, 1948

Box 1, folder 9. "Political Action Handbook for Textile Workers," ca. 1948

Box 1, folder 10. Reports, 1946-1948

Box 1, folder 11. Reports and memoranda, 1949 (John G. Hovan)

Box 1, folder 12. Setting instructions for Draper looms at Peerless Weaving, 1947


Series 2: Membership records

 

Added and dropped members. Weekly lists in the form of letters from the Peerless personnel manager. Lists include position, address, reason for departure and last day worked.

Box 2, folder 1. 1946, July - December

Box 2, folder 2. 1947, January - April

Box 2, folder 3. 1947, April - June

Box 2, folder 4. 1947, July - August

Box 2, folder 5. 1947, September

Box 2, folder 6. 1947, October - December

Box 2, folder 7. 1948, January - February

Box 2, folder 8. 1948, March - April

Box 2, folder 9. 1948, May - June

Box 2, folder 10. 1948, July

Box 2, folder 11. 1948, August

Box 2, folder 12. 1948, September

Box 2, folder 13. 1948, October

Box 2, folder 14. 1948, November

Box 2, folder 15. 1948, December

Box 2, folder 16. 1949, January - February

Box 2, folder 17. 1949, March

Box 2, folder 18. 1949, April

Box 2, folder 19. 1949, May

Box 2, folder 20. 1949, June

Box 2, folder 21. 1949, July

Box 2, folder 22. 1949, August

Box 2, folder 23. 1949, September

Box 2, folder 24. 1949, October - December

 

Leaves of absences for members. Slips and accompanying letters from the Peerless personnel manager, giving address, position, span of leave, and reason for leave.

Box 2, folder 25. 1946, October

Box 2, folder 26. 1948, May - June

Box 2, folder 27. 1948, July

Box 2, folder 28. 1948, August

Box 2, folder 29. 1948, September

Box 2, folder 30. 1948, October - December

Box 2, folder 31. 1949, January - February

Box 2, folder 32. 1949, March

Box 2, folder 33. 1949, April

Box 2, folder 34. 1949, May

Box 2, folder 35. 1949, June

Box 2, folder 36. 1949, July

Box 2, folder 37. 1949, August - September


Membership cards. Only eleven cards. Each gives name, address and department.

Box 2, folder 38. 1948


Seniority lists. Lists by department, giving position and date of hire.

Box 2, folder 39. 1947, March

Box 2, folder 40. 1948, June

Box 2, folder 41. 1949, January and June


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Subjects:


Communist Party of America

Hovan, John G.

Pawtucket, R.I. - Economic conditions

Peerless Mills Company (Pawtucket, R.I.)

Peerless Throwing Company (Pawtucket, R.I.)

Rayon industry and trade - Rhode Island - Pawtucket

Senecal, Ernest

Trade unions - Textile workers - Rhode Island


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RIHS1822