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Records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of RECORDS OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CAR PORTERS Series A, Holdings of the Chicago Historical Society and the Newberry Library, 1925–1969 Part 1: Records of the BSCP, 1925–1969 UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of BLACK STUDIES RESEARCH SOURCES Microfilms from Major Archival and Manuscript Collections General Editors: John H. Bracey, Jr. and August Meier RECORDS OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CAR PORTERS Series A, Holdings of the Chicago Historical Society and the Newberry Library, 1925–1969 Part 1: Records of the BSCP, 1925–1969 Edited by William H. Harris Associate Editor: Randolph Boehm Guide Compiled by: Blair D. Hydrick A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA An Imprint of CIS 4520 East-West Highway • Bethesda, MD 20814-3389 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Series A. Holdings of the Chicago Historical Society and the Newberry Library, 1925–1969 [microform] / edited by William H. Harris. microfilm reels. — (Black studies research sources) Accompanied by printed reel guide, compiled by Blair D. Hydrick. Contents: pt. 1. Records of the BSCP, 1925–1969 — pt. 2. Records of the Ladies Auxiliary of the BSCP, 1931–1968 — pt. 3. Records of the BSCP Relations with the Pullman Company, 1925–1968. ISBN 1-55655-279-3 (microfilm : pt. 1) 1. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters—Archives. 2. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Ladies Auxiliary—Archives. 3. Trade-unions— Railroads—United States—History—20th century—Sources. 4. Trade-unions—Porters—United States—History—20th century— Sources. 5. Afro-Americans—Employment—History—20th century— Sources. I. Harris, William Hamilton, 1944– . II. Schipper, Martin Paul. III. Hydrick, Blair D. IV. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. V. Chicago Historical Society. VI. Newberry Library. VII. University Publications of America (Firm) VIII. Series. [HD6515.R362B76] 331.88′1138522′0973—dc20 93-2009 CIP Copyright © 1994 by Chicago Historical Society. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-55655-279-3. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... v Note on Sources .............................................................................................................................. xiii Editorial Note.................................................................................................................................... xiii Scope and Content Note ............................................................................................................. xv Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... xviii Reel Index Reel 1 Correspondence, 1925–1969 [1925–1927] ......................................................................... 1 Reel 2 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1927 cont.] ............................................................... 2 Reel 3 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1928–1930] .............................................................. 3 Reel 4 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1931–1936] .............................................................. 4 Reel 5 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1937–1940] .............................................................. 6 Reel 6 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1941–1943] .............................................................. 7 Reel 7 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1944–1945] .............................................................. 8 Reel 8 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1945 cont.] ............................................................... 9 Reel 9 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1945 cont.–1946] .................................................... 10 Reel 10 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1947–1957] .............................................................. 11 Reel 11 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1958–1961] .............................................................. 12 Reel 12 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [1962–1969] .............................................................. 13 Reel 13 Correspondence, 1925–1969 cont. [Undated] ................................................................... 14 BSCP Convention Materials, 1938–1975 .............................................................................. 15 iii Reels 14–15 BSCP Convention Materials, 1938–1975 cont. ................................................................... 15 Reel 16 International Executive Board, 1948–1964 [1948–1955].................................................. 16 Reel 17 International Executive Board, 1948–1964 cont. [1956–1964] ....................................... 18 Reel 18 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1941–1942] ..................................................................................... 21 Reel 19 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1942 cont.] ...................................................................................... 22 Reel 20 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1942 cont.] ...................................................................................... 22 Reel 21 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1942 cont.–1943]........................................................................... 23 Reel 22 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1943 cont.] ...................................................................................... 24 Reel 23 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1943 cont.] ...................................................................................... 25 Reel 24 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1944]................................................................................................. 26 Reel 25 FEPC Files, 1941–1946 [1944 cont.–1946]........................................................................... 27 Reel 26 Hearings, 1948–1976 ................................................................................................................. 27 Reel 27 Convention Correspondence, 1948–1971 ........................................................................... 29 Reel 28 Membership Ledgers.................................................................................................................. 30 General Alphabetical Files ........................................................................................................ 31 Reel 29 General Alphabetical Files cont............................................................................................... 32 Reel 30 General Alphabetical Files cont............................................................................................... 35 Personal Injury Claims ............................................................................................................... 36 NAACP, 1969–1977 .................................................................................................................. 37 A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1967–1971 ............................................................................... 37 Subject Index ..................................................................................................................................... 39 iv INTRODUCTION Experienced scholars and beginning researchers alike will find much to rejoice about with the release of University Publications of America’s microfilm collection of the Records of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, 1925–1969. The Records, organized in three parts and composed mainly of documents housed in the Chicago Historical Society but supplemented by material from the Newberry Library, provide extraordinary documentation that scholars might use to help us understand further the significant history of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) and the men who built it into the first national union of black workers officially affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor (AFL) and later with the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO). The Records are, as well, a revealing source on the activities of the Ladies Auxiliary of the BSCP and its colorful president, Helena Wilson. Moreover, we can learn much from this microfilm collection about the wartime March on Washington Movement and the resultant Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC), the postwar antecedents of the civil rights movement, and the relationships between black workers and the general organized labor movement. In the following Part 3, there is also documentation of the relationship between the BSCP and the Pullman Company, especially for the period during which the Brotherhood formally represented the porters in negotiations with the company. Although the membership of the BSCP was never large (the total number of porters never exceeded 12,000 and fewer than half that number ever signed on with the union during its struggle to organize), the BSCP is of major importance in American history. The efforts of the porters to forge a national organization, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, Milton P. Webster, Ashley L. Totten, and C. L. Dellums, attracted much attention during the 1920s and 1930s and launched the officials, especially Randolph and Webster, to prominent leadership roles in the United States. In addition, the BSCP became the spawning ground for ideas and people who would contribute much to the later civil rights movement. Pullman Company A brief accounting of the efforts by Randolph and his colleagues to form a national
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