Guide to the Rayfield Mooty Oral History Interview by James B. Stewart, circa 1990

Collection number: 2006-0114H

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

Contact Information:

Pennsylvania State University

University Libraries

Special Collections Library

104 Paterno Library

University Park, PA 16802

814/865-7931

FAX 814/863-5318

E-mail: jpq1@psulias.psu.edu

Processed by:					Doris Malkmus
Date Completed:					2007
Encoded by:					Susan Hamburger

©2007 Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Creator:	Mooty, Rayfield, 1907-1990
Title:	Rayfield Mooty Oral History Interview by James B. Stewart
Date:	circa 1990
Collection number:	2006-0114H
Extent:	1 videorecording (VHS videocassette) : 120 minutes
Abstract:	The Rayfield Mooty Oral History Interview by James B. Stewart, circa 1990, consists of an original VHS video recording (and DVD access copy) of an oral history interview with Rayfield Mooty, USWA Organizer and co-founder of the Committee of Black Steel Workers. Mooty illustrated the oral history with documents from his substantial collection of convention photographs, flyers, and other memorabilia related to his work with the USWA and the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Steelworkers over many decades.
Physical location:	GCS
Repository:	Pennsylvania State University, University Libraries, Special Collections Library

Administrative Information

Biographical Note

Rayfield Mooty, founding member and National Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Steelworkers of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), began his career in steel at G. H. R. Foundry in Dayton, Ohio, from 1923 until 1927. He worked in a South View, Pennsylvania, coal mine in 1928 and relocated to Chicago in 1929. Mooty joined the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel & Tin Workers of America in 1937, was elected a trustee in 1938, and served as recording secretary from 1939 until 1948. He became a charter member of Local 1422 in 1942 when the USWA supplanted its precursor, the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC).

While employed at Reynolds Aluminum Company in Gary, Indiana, Mooty was appointed shop steward in 1951 and was elected to serve on the Grievance and Negotiating Committees in 1952. He served as president of the local from 1954 to 1956 and subsequently served as shop steward from 1957 to 1964.

Mooty was one of the founding members of the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Steelworkers of the United Steelworkers of America which formed in 1964 and was elected its secretary-treasurer in 1966. Mooty co-authored the Ad Hoc Committee's Three Point Program, introduced in 1964. The theme of the Three Point Program was "Our Rightful Share." The three goals enunciated in the Program were: (1) appointment of blacks to the USWA Executive Board, (2) attainment of full integration on all levels within the various districts and national offices of the USWA for blacks and participation of blacks as department heads and in all decision making venues, and (3) reorganization of the USWA Civil Rights Department. By the time of the annual meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee in 1970, the third goal had been achieved. The terminology "Ad Hoc" was used to convey the intention that the body would dissolve once its three goals had been accomplished. Under Mooty's leadership, the Ad Hoc Committee actively confronted the USWA regarding a continuing pattern of discrimination as experienced by black steelworkers, including leading a picket line protesting the policies of then USWA president I. W. Abel at the 14th Constitutional Convention of the USWA in Chicago in 1968.

Scope and Content

The Rayfield Mooty Oral History Interview by James B. Stewart, consists of an original video recording of an oral history interview between Mooty and Stewart dating from approximately 1990. The collection also contains a digital copy of this tape created at Pennsylvania State University in 2006. The interview takes place in the Mooty residence in Chicago where Mooty illustrated his oral history with documents from his substantial collection of convention photographs, flyers, and other memorabilia related to his work with the USWA and the Ad Hoc Committee over many decades.

In the interview, Mooty briefly described his family background as farmers and his early employment in factories and the organization of his workplace by the Steelworkers Organizing Committee. He also described his recollections and interactions with other African American union leaders such as Jim Hart, Carl Davis, Boyd Wilson, Sam Stokes, Jim Jones, and Alex Fuller. A large portion of the interview centers on the circumstances surrounding the formation, and the three-point campaign, of the Ad Hoc Committee of Concerned Steelworkers. During the interview, Mooty referred to several African American women union leaders such as Olabel Taplet and Louise Anderson. The interview also included discussion of the efforts by the Ad Hoc Committee on behalf of African American workers during labor disputes.

Index Terms

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