United Transportation Union. Lodge 1293: Records, 1917-1974

Summary Information

Title: United Transportation Union. Lodge 1293: Records

Inclusive Dates: 1917-1974

Creator: United Transportation Union. Lodge 1293 (Altoona, Wis.)

Call Number: Eau Claire Mss AF

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (1 record center carton, 2 archives boxes, and 2 flat boxes)

Repository: Housed at the Area Research Center, William D. McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division

Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr.

Abstract: Records of a labor union representing employees of the eastern division of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railroad. Included are minutes, 1917-1923, 19321959; correspondence; membership and attendance records; monthly treasurer's reports and information on claims; and miscellaneous communications received from the Grand Lodge of the union. The union was organized in Altoona in 1917 as Local 888 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen; when merger formed the United Transportation Union in 1968, it became Local 1293. Only a small portion of the documentation in the collection relates to the local's history as a member of the United Transportation Union.

Language: English

Search Terms/Subject Terms

• Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad
• Labor unions—Wisconsin—Altoona
• Railroads—Employees—Labor unions—Wisconsin
• Railroads—Wisconsin—Employees
• Altoona (Wis.)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Lodge 888 (Altoona, Wis.)

Biography/History

The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, formerly the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen, was organized by eight train service employees at Oneonta, New York, September 23, 1883. From its inception the union has endeavored

To unite the Railroad Trainmen; to promote their general welfare and advance their interests, social, moral, and intellectual; to protect their families by the exercise of a systematic benevolence very needful in a calling so hazardous as ours.... (Walter McCaleb, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, New York, 1936, p. 51)

In February, 1917, an organizational meeting was called at Altoona, Wisconsin by A.F. Whitney, vice president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a lodge of the brotherhood with jurisdiction over members employed on the eastern division of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railroad (except for yardmen at the Twin Cities). The lodge became Local #888, popularly known as the Chippewa Valley Lodge.

In 1968, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, along with the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, and Switchmen's Union of North America, merged to form the United Transportation Union (UTU). At this time, Local #888 became Local #1293, UTU.

Scope and Content Note

The records of the United Transportation Union, Local 1293, formerly Local 888 of Altoona, Wisconsin, span the years 1917 to 1974 and are arranged alphabetically by subject. They provide an informative, although somewhat sketchy, account of the activities of the local, with the emphasis on the period before the formation of the UTU. For this period, the records include fairly complete minutes, membership records, and financial records. There is little general correspondence, however, although there are minutes, circulars, and other communications from the Grand Lodge of the union. Virtually the only records documenting the post-merger period consist of monthly treasurer's reports and fragmentary correspondence concerning member benefits.

Administrative/Restriction Information

Acquisition Information: Presented by the Union, via Gerald A. Hagen, Altoona, Wisconsin, 1974-1978.

Accession Number: M74-284, M78-264

Processing Information: Processed by John Pfeil and John Fleckner, 1977; additions processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 2001.

Contents List