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3. Provenance 4. Inventory 5. Subjects |
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.
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.
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).
Inventory:
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
Subjects:
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