Processed by
Pamela Tranfield
22 April 2002
Updated 1 April 1, 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
17 bound volumes, 1 manuscript box, 3 oversize folders |
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COLLECTION |
1875-1975 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Wila Mae Wolfe, 6460 Shelbyville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46237, 27 Nov. 2000 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
None |
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RELATED |
None |
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ACCESSION |
2001.0056 |
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NOTES: |
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The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was formed on 1 December 1873 at Jervis, New York. Medical insurance and funeral benefits were the main incentives for membership in this labor union.
Eureka Lodge no. 14 was organized in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 21 February 1875. That year the union’s second annual convention was held in Indianapolis. Delegates voted that the union was to work for “protection of its members in industrial relations” in addition to existing as a life insurance organization. At that time the organization had 900 members in twenty-nine lodges across the United States and Canada.
The union merged with the International Firemen’s Union in 1879. By 1894 membership had grown to 26,000 members. In 1902 membership was opened to locomotive engineers, and in 1906 the name of the organization was changed to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. The union lost membership in the 1920s for a number of reasons, including the formation of the rival United Enginemen’s Association.
World War II provided a period of full employment and growth for the union. During the 1940s the brotherhood won major wage increases, a five-day week for yardmen, and an agreement that firemen would be retained in the cabs of diesel locomotives used in passenger service. This issue precipitated a 1962 strike that resulted in the removal of firemen-helpers from a number of freight and yard jobs. Several union members were jailed in 1966 over the issue.
On 1 January 1969 the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen joined with the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen and Switchmen’s Union of North America to form the United Transportation Union.
Socialist leader Eugene Debs (1855-1926) was Grand Secretary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen from 1880-92. He was a charter member of the Vigo Lodge, Terre Haute, Indiana.
Sources:
Fink, Gary J. Labor Unions. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press,
1977.
HD6508 .L234 1977
Inventory of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen/Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen Collection, MS 3, California State Railroad Museum (www.oac.cdlib.org), accessed 21 March 2002.
Official site of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation (www.eugenevdebs.com) , accessed 21 March 2002.
The collection includes seventeen minute books dating from 21 Feb. 1875 to 1 May 1969. These items are stored as Bound Volumes 3429-3445. This is not a complete set of minutes, as there are no books for the periods July 1877-June 1882, Jan. 1887-April 1889, Sept. 1902-Aug. 1905, and May 1910-Dec. 1916.
The volumes are arranged in chronological order. Loose items were removed from the books for conservation reasons. These items are stored in folders in M 0774. The documents include minutes dating from 13-17 June 1907 (folder 18), financial reports, and lists related to payment of dues. Other material includes letters concerning funeral services (folder 9), correspondence with the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (folder 14), and the Constitution of the Indiana State American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), 1960. These items are stored in Series 1: Bound Volumes and Enclosures.
Series 2, Business Records, consists of items that may have been originally stored in the bound volumes, but were loose items at the time of processing. These items include minutes of 7 Nov. 1882 (folder 27), applications for relief and sickness benefits (folder 28), and the annual report of the union dated 30 June 1901 (folder 30). Other material includes election ballots (stored as OM 00395) and a seniority roster of firemen and engineers on the Pennsylvania Railroad (Western Region, Indianapolis Division, 1 January 1948). This item is stored in flat file FF 14-0.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Minute Book, 21 Feb. 1875-26 June 1877 |
BV 3429 |
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Minute Book, Financial Secretary’s Book, 11 July 1882-31 July 1883 |
BV 3430 |
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Items removed from BV 3430, n.d.-1883 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Minute Book, 7 Aug. 1883-28 Dec. 1886 |
BV 3431 |
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Items removed from BV 3431, 1885-86 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Minute Book, 28 May 1889-30 Aug. 1892 |
BV 3432 |
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Items removed from BV 3432, 1890 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Items removed from BV 3432, 1891 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Items removed from BV 3432, 1891-92 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Application for Relief, Quarter ending 31 July 1894 |
OM 0395, Folder 2 |
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Delinquents Carried, Quarter ending 1 Oct. 1894 |
OM 0395, Folder 2 |
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Minute Book, 9 Aug. 1892-9 Oct. 1894 |
BV 3433 |
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Items removed from BV 3433, 1892-93 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Items removed from BV 3433, 1893-94 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Minute Book, 23 Oct. 1894-27 Jan. 1898 |
BV 3434 |
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Items removed from BV 3434, 1895-97 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Items removed from BV 3434, 1896-98 |
M 0774, Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Minute Book, 4 July 1898-25 Aug. 1902 |
BV 3435 |
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Items removed from BV 3435, 1898-1900 |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Items removed from BV 3435, 1901 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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Items removed from BV 3435, 1901 |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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Items removed from BV 3435, 1902 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Items removed from BV 3435, 1902-05 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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Minute Book, 3 Sept. 1905-27 June 1907 |
BV 3436 |
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Items removed from BV 3436, n.d.-1906 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
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Items removed from BV 3436, 1906 |
Box 1, Folder 16 |
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Items removed from BV 3436, 1906-07 |
Box 1, Folder 17 |
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Items removed from BV 3436, 1907 |
Box 1, Folder 18 |
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Official Ballot, circa 1906 |
OM 0395, Folder 2 |
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Minute Book, 11 July 1907-14 April 1910 |
BV 3437 |
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Items removed from BV 3437, 1907-10 |
Box 1, Folder 19 |
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Minute Book, 25 Jan. 1917-29 Dec. 1921 |
BV 3438 |
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Items removed from BV 3438, 1921-n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 20 |
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Official Ballot, n.d. |
OM 0395, Folder 1 |
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Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1922-22 Dec. 1925 |
BV 3439 |
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Items removed from BV 3439, 1924-25 |
Box 1, Folder 21 |
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Minute Book, 7 Jan. 1926-26 May 1932 |
BV 3440 |
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Minute Book, 26 May 1932-16 July 1942 |
BV 3441 |
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Minute Book, 6 Aug. 1942-21 June 1951 |
BV 3442 |
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Items removed from BV 3442, 1942 |
Box 1, Folder 22 |
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Minute Book, 5 July 1951-21 June 1956 |
BV 3443 |
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Items removed from BV 3443, 1955-56 |
Box 1, Folder 23 |
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Minute Book, 5 July 1956-3 Jan. 1963 |
BV 3444 |
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Items removed from BV 3444, 1960-61 |
Box 1, Folder 24 |
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Minute Book, 7 Feb. 1963-1 May 1969 |
BV 3445 |
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Items removed from BV 3445, 1910-ca. 1966 |
Box 1, Folder 25 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Insurance Policy, 4 Nov. 1882 |
Box 1, Folder 26 |
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Minutes, 7 Nov. 1882 |
Box 1, Folder 27 |
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Relief, Sickness Benefits, 1891-96 |
Box 1, Folder 28 |
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Clipping re: Alleged Embezzlement, 12 Feb. 1898 |
Box 1, Folder 29 |
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Annual Report, 30 June 1901 |
Box 1, Folder 30 |
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Correspondence, ca. 1902-n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 31 |
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Bylaws, Eureka Lodge no. 14, 1 Jan. 1931 |
Box 1, Folder 32 |
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Pennsylvania Railroad, Seniority Roster of Engineers and Firemen, 1 Jan. 1948 |
Flat File: FF 14-0 |
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Roster of Charter Members on 1 Feb. 1875 ; 1955 |
Box 1, Folder 33 |
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Roster, 9 Dec. 1964 |
Box 1, Folder 34 |
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Brotherhood’s Relief and Compensation Fund, 1976 |
Box 1, Folder 35 |
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List of Charter Members on 1 Feb. 1875 [n.d.] |
Box 1, Folder 36 |
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Ephemera, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 37 |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, BV 3429).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.