Guide to the Order of Railway Conductors of America Local 160 Records, 1884-1927

Accession number: 1968-0009H

University Libraries
The Pennsylvania State University
Special Collections Library
Historical Collections and Labor Archives

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Descriptive Summary

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The records are organized into three series: I. Correspondence, Circulars, and Reports; II. Minute Books, Check Receipt Books, Attendance Roll Books; III. Membership and Dues Records Series.

Administrative History Note

The Order of Railway Conductors of America was founded in 1868 in Amboy, Illinois as the Conductors Union. The name was changed to Order of Railway Conductors of America (ORC) in 1878. The ORC remained a fraternal society until 1890. In 1942, the Order of Sleeping Car Conductors merged with ORC. The union's name was changed in 1954 to the Order of Railway Conductors of America. In 1969 the Order merged with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and Switchmen's Union of North America to form the United Transportation Union. The Wyoming Valley - Wilkes- Barre, Pa. Division, Local 160 was established on Nov. 16, 1884.

Scope and Content

The Order of Railway Conductors of America collection contains records relating to the Wyoming Valley - Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Division 160. In addition to division material documenting local activities, the collection includes circulars and memos generated by the national office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Included in the collection are minutes, 1884-1922; financial records, 1884-1927; applications for membership; general correspondence, circulars, and reports between Local 160, other locals, and the international office.

The general correspondence, circular and report files largely document issues of concern to the national union. The office of the Grand Chief Conductor routinely distributed circulars which served as a vehicle for disseminating information on issues related to legislation, benefits, the union's Laws of Order and Constitution and elections. Of particular interest are the circulars from the Grand Chief Secretary. These records list union members who have been expelled or suspended from the ORC for such activities as engaging in the sale of liquor, engaging in a strike, unbecoming conduct, and non-payment of dues. Member reinstatements are also listed in these circulars. The correspondence for 1884-1901 is digitized.

The Division 160 records include minute books, check receipt books, attendance rolls, membership applications, benefit assessments, dues ledgers, and cash books. The minute books, which run from 1884 to 1922, document the bimonthly division meetings and include notations on written communications received by the division office, new and unfinished business, promotions, initiations, and disciplinary charges. The last entry for each year includes an annual financial report, listing total income and expenditures for that particular calendar year. The minute books for 1884-1892 and 1892-1898 are digitized.

The attendance books list the division members and the meetings attended for a given year. The collection includes attendance books for 1884 through 1925. The attendance roll book for 1884-1891 is digitized. The benefit assessments, covering the years from 1892 through 1895, list the amount paid to the Protective Fund by individual members of the division. The financial records, including dues ledgers, cash books, and check receipt books document the income and expenditures for the division from 1884 through 1925. The dues ledgers list the dues paid for each member of the division and the cash books list the dues assessments and the division expenditures for a given year. The cash books for 1884-1892, 1893-1898, and 1898-1909 are digitized.

Index Terms

These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Pennsylvania State University. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.

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