Mike Solski Fonds
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P019 Solski 1 P019 Mike Solski fonds 1910-2005 3.36 lm of textual records, 247 graphic documents, 14 maps, 113 artifacts, 5 reels of microfilm, 207 sound recordings, and 37 moving images Biographical Sketch: Michael “Mike” Solski (1918-1999) was born to Anna Bialy and Joseph Solski on October 2, 1918, in Coniston, Ontario, a satellite community of Sudbury. He married Irene Horrick in 1939, also a local Coniston resident, and together they had one daughter, Sandra. Like his father and grandfather before him, at the age of seventeen, Solski began working for the International Nickel Company of Canada Ltd. (INCO). He worked at the Coniston smelter from 1935 until he retired as Central Assets and Surplus Coordinator in 1978. Starting in 1942, Solski played an important role in the Sudbury area labour movement as a member of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW). He held the position of Coniston Plant Union Organizing Team chairman and moved through the ranks of Mine Mill Local 598 from Trustee to President, a position he held for 6 years consecutively. In 1958, Solski led a three month long Mine Mill strike against INCO, believed to be one of the reasons why Solski was defeated by Don Gillis for the position of Local 598 President in 1959. Solski was involved with the Mine Mill Local 598 administration during a time when the local was amongst the largest in Canada. During the 1950s and 1960s, the union was accused of having communist leanings, in part because of executive members’ travels to Cuba, and Solski was a prominent member during the Steelworkers’ raids of 1961 through the controversial merger between Mine Mill and the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) in 1967. Solski would later serve as IUMMSW National Vice-President. Throughout his life, Solski was also active in local politics. He held the position of Coniston Town Councilor form 1945 to 1947 and served as Coniston Mayor from 1962 to 1972. In January 1973 when Regional Government was instituted in the Sudbury District, the townships of Coniston, Garson, Skead, Falconbridge, and Wahnapitae were amalgamated and became the town of Nickel Centre. Solski was Nickle Centre’s first mayor, holding the position from 1973 until 1978. During his last council meeting, Solski was shot three times and wounded by a disgruntled Garson resident named Romeo Kerim. This event greatly affected Solski physically and led directly to his retirement. While working in municipal politics, Solski was President of the Sudbury and District Municipal Association (1966 to 1972), Chairman of the Sudbury and District Municipal Association Restructuring Committee (1972), and Vice-Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury (1973, 1977, and 1978). Solski was also heavily involved in Provincial and Federal Politics, running unsuccessfully as the Sudbury East Liberal candidate in the 1967 Provincial election and holding the position of President of the Nickel District Liberal Association and Nickel Belt Federal Riding. In both his professional and personal life, Solski held numerous board positions, including seats on the Sudbury Regional Police Commission (1973-1978), the Coniston and Nickel Centre Hydro Commissions (1963-1999), the Employment and Immigration Advisory Council, and the Nickel Centre Public Library (1973-1994). 5 February 2018 P019 Solski 2 In honour of his dedication to local history, the Coniston branch of the Sudbury Public Library was re-named the Mike Solski Library. Solski remained involved with community activities after retiring in 1978 and was a prolific writer of op-ed pieces for local newspapers. He spent the majority of his time writing about local history, founding the Coniston Historical Group in 1980. He completed The Coniston Story (1982; 1990), receiving a certificate from the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and Mine Mill: The History of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in Canada since 1895 with John Smaller (1984). With journalist Mick Lowe, Solski began work on an autobiography. Lowe conducted over twenty interviews that would have eventually led to a memoir if Solski had not passed away before the project was completed. Over the course of his lifetime, Solski was often interviewed and recognized publicly for his contributions to the labour movement and local politics within the District of Sudbury. Active until the last year of his life, Solski joined the Sudbury Regional Restructuring Association in support regional reform, but passed away of heart failure on October 19, 1999. Scope and Content: The Mike Solski fonds consists of material created, received, and accumulated by Solski throughout his lifetime. The material documents Solski’s time with Mine Mill Local 598, various iterations of Municipal Government in the Sudbury Area, and his involvement in local history projects. Solski was involved with the administration of Mine Mill Local 598 during a particularly tumultuous period: the 1958 Strike, the 1961 Steelworkers’ raids, and the 1967 merger between Mine Mill and the USWA. The union was often accused of having communist leanings and was under the surveillance of the RCMP. Many records focus on these issues and highlight the cultural landscape within the Sudbury labour movement during the cold war. As a whole, the fonds touches upon the multifaceted interests Solski held throughout his life and career and includes material on subjects such as Municipal, Provincial, and Federal politics, labour history—both locally and internationally—, tax reform, mining, and community activism. The fonds consists of correspondence, notes, meeting minutes, photographs, essays, audio interviews, and various other kinds of material. Leaflets and copies of Local 598 News, The Mine Mill Herald, and The Beacon, municipal documentation including compiled meeting minutes and correspondence, transcripts of interviews from local trade-union members, and videotapes on various matters can be found within the fonds. Assorted memorabilia, artifacts, awards and recognition, as well as newspaper clippings about Solski and other Sudbury Area figures are included as well. Records from the Sudbury and District Municipal Association and the institution of Regional Government within the District of Sudbury also make up a large portion of the fonds. Documentation and correspondence related to Solski’s various book projects, his involvement with the labour movement in Sudbury, as well as various other matters are included. The fonds is organized into the following series: I- Trade-Unionism, II- Politics, and III- Communal Work. Immediate source of acquisition: Mike Solski donated his fonds to the Laurentian University Archives in 1995. Location of Originals: Originals that make up the five reels of microfilm found in this fonds (I/B,34) are housed at the Archives of Ontario. 5 February 2018 P019 Solski 3 Availability of other formats: Digitized copies of some documents are available. Restrictions on access: Some documents are restricted due to personal content. Terms governing use and reproduction/publication: Copyright Act regulations apply to this fonds. Accruals: This fonds was received in six accruals. The first two were donated by Mike Solski on October 24, 1995, and November 12, 1996. The third accrual was transferred from the Sudbury Public Library on May 15, 1998, while the final three accruals were donated by Sandra Solski Spratt in October 2000, August 9, 2011, and November 4, 2014. No more accruals are expected. Related material: P009- The N.O.L.I.A. fonds, P026- the I.U.M.M.S.W. Local 598 fonds, P059- Jim Tester fonds, P073- Mick Lowe, P035- Nelson Thibeault fonds, P051- James Kidd, P140- Robin and Archibald McArthur fonds, and P102- David Letho and George Prusilla collection may contain complementary information. Associated material: The Archives of Ontario, Library and Archives Canada, the University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections Archives, and the Greater Sudbury heritage Museum may also have associated material. 5 February 2018 P019 Solski 4 Series I: Trade-Unionism 1910-1999 1.49lm of textual records, 223 graphic documents, 46 artifacts, 5 reels of microfilm, 185 sound recordings, and 16 moving images Scope and content: This series consists of material that concerns labour union activities and the IUMMSW in particular. It documents Solski’s time as a union member and administrator and Solski’s research on union activities and history for various projects, including the book Mine Mill: The History of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in Canada since 1895 co-authored by John Smaller. Solski held various union positions including Mine Mill Local 598 Trustee and President, as well as IUMMSW National Vice-President. The series highlights Cold War era labour union politics and the cultural landscape of the Sudbury area during that period. Files in this series include correspondence concerning research and union administration, IUMMSW Executive meeting minutes, essays, excerpts from various books, copies of court documents concerning challenges to the Mine Mill and USWA merger, collective agreements, union newspapers, audiotape interviews, photographs, videotapes, and artifacts from Solski’s time with the union. The series consists of two sub-series: A- Trade Union Administration and B- Historical Research. Sub-Series I/A: Trade Union Administration 1943-1993 74.2cm of textual records and 46 artifacts Scope and content: Consists of files that concern Solski’s administrative work with the IUMMSW. [35,34,A; 35,34,B] I/A,1. [IUMMSW Convention Reports] 1943-1967 31.5cm of textual records This file consists of the published official proceedings of the IUMMSW International Convention for the years 1943, 1944, and 1955; Official Proceedings for the Canadian Convention of the IUMMSW for the years 1955-1957, 1959, 1961, 1963-1964, and 1966; Officer’s Reports for the Canadian Convention of the IUMMSW for the years 1961 and 1963; Official Proceedings for the 3rd Annual Convention, District 2, of the IUMMSW for the year 1963; and the Official Proceedings, Special Merger Convention, of the IUMMSW for the year 1967.