We hope you had a wonderfully relaxing Labor Day holiday. I took the opportunity to think about what we have in our Special Collections ephemera files that pertains to the labor movement or to local labor organizations and found two interesting items.
\nOne is a photocopied manuscript complete with editing notes by Roy F. McNabney, a local historian, dated 1936. In it he states the first unions listed in Davenport appeared the same year the government enacted the eight-hour day law in 1868, namely the Coachmaker\u2019s International Union and the Tailor\u2019s Association. The Machinists and Blacksmiths Unions are first mentioned as active in 1880 and the local Knights of Labor formed Assembly 2179 in 1882, meeting every Monday evening at Schumacher\u2019s Hall, 210 Harrison Street. The manuscript ends with a listing of local labor unions and the dates they began which includes the Buttonmaker\u2019s Union of Iowa and Illinois, the Buttermaker\u2019s Union and the Milkmen\u2019s Union.
\nWe also have a September 1911 Machinists Convention Souvenir Booklet. Davenport\u2019s International Association of Machinists lodges evidently hosted the national affair that year. The Convention Committee consisted of J. C. Davenport, M. Gorman, B. F. Kindred, J. Hynes and J. Smithinger. This booklet contains their photographs as well as images of the ladies auxiliary and local active machinist\u2019s lodges. It also provides brief histories and some very cool advertisements from local businesses including The Golden Lion restaurant at 210 Harrison Street (remember Schumacher\u2019s Hall from McNabney\u2019s piece?), the Brothers Silberstein, agents for Auto Brand Union Made Workingmen\u2019s Clothes who boast garments that are \u201ccut roomy but of good proportion\u201d, and the Proclamation sponsored by M. Ziffrin, Rock Island, Illinois Local Agent that \u201cNothing is Too Good for the International Association of Machinists. They Drink Old Style Lager \u2013 the Beer with a Snap to it!!\u201d
\nSo \u201cSnap to It\u201d and view the rich resources available in the Ephemera files here in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We hope you had a wonderfully relaxing Labor Day holiday. I took the opportunity to think about what we have in our Special Collections ephemera files that pertains to the labor movement or to local labor organizations and found two … Continue reading