The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) collection

Repository: Wayne State University. Walter P. Reuther Library

Collection Description (CRHP): This collection includes interviews about the strike by Memphis sanitation workers in 1968, as well as interviews with the following people: Gerald McEntee, Flora Walker, William Lucy, William J. McEntee, Roy Kubista, Dr. Joseph Mire, Joe Ames, Al Church, Joe Collins, Ed Dailey, and Gordon Chapman.

Collection Description (Extant): The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) traces its roots to Madison, Wisconsin where, in 1932, a small group of professional state employees organized to protect and promote the civil service. By 1936, the group gained recognition from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and became AFSCME. By 1955 when the AFL merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), AFSCME's composition was expanding to include blue-collar public employees, and its focus had shifted to collective bargaining. Since that time, AFSCME has grown to one of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO, boasting 1.4 million members today. AFSCME represents workers in a variety of roles including corrections, emergency services, education, health care, law enforcement, public administration, public works, housing, and transportation.

The Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University became the official repository for AFSCME in 1974. Since that time, it has collected the records of the union's international headquarters and some locals, as well as the personal papers of prominent union members.

The AFSCME collection abstracts, audio files, and images on our website are just a part of our total AFSCME Collection.

Access Copy Note: Photographs and audio clips of radio spots and some interviews are available online.

Collection URL: http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/taxonomy/term/10

Date(s): 1930s-

Digital Status: Partial

Language: English

Related Archival Items: See also recordings in the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Records.

Interviewees: Nelson Jones, Gerald McEntee, Flora Walker, William Lucy, William J. McEntee, Roy Kubista, Joseph Mire, Joe Ames, Al Church, Joe Collins, Ed Dailey, Gordon Chapman

Rights (CRHP): Contact the repository which holds the collection for information on rights

Subjects:

African American labor union members
AFSCME
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Labor movement
Labor unions
Memphis (Tenn.)
Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968

Genres:

Interviews
Sound recordings