Rochester Labor Council History: Sources

Sources

Most of the data for this Web Site was collected from Rochester labor journals, the official weekly publications of local central labor bodies:

• Labor Journal, 7/1/10 - 10/2/14
• Labor Herald, 10/9/14 - 12/31/27
• Labor Herald & Citizen, 1/7/28 - 7/28/35
• Labor’s Vanguard, 9/16/37 - 10/28/37
• Rochester & Vicinity Labor, 8/11/39 - 12/25/41
• Rochester & Vicinity Labor & Labor Herald, 1/1/42 - 8/4/48
• Labor Herald, 7/8/39 - 5/3/40
• [CTLC] Labor News, 12/14/45 - 1958
• [Rochester AFL-CIO Council] Labor News, 1959 - 2005

These journals proved to be an extraordinary source of information about the labor bodies themselves, as they published directories of local unions affiliated with the Central Trades and Labor Council, the minutes of bi-weekly delegate meetings, reports of union elections, news of strikes and organizing efforts, editorials on labor legislation supported or opposed by the Council, columns about specific trades, and information about Council-sponsored demonstrations, picnics, dances and other events. These sources revealed, in detail and for nearly a century, the structure of the Council and its very operation, including the role of its committees, where much of the Council’s work was actually accomplished.

However, these sources cover only the period beginning in 1910. For the earlier years no labor journals remain, apart from a single issue of the Knights of Labor Sunday Truth & Advocate & Mail (August 5, 1883) and an isolated 1903 issue of the Labor Journal.

Data for the years 1855 through 1909 came from other sources, including Rochester City Directories and the publications and unpublished theses listed below:

Brewer, James L. “Centennial History of Organized Labor in Rochester.” (Centennial History of Rochester, 1934, Vol. IV, pages 399 - 437)

Dutko, John. “Socialism in Rochester,” 1900 - 1917. (MA Thesis, University of Rochester). 1953

Garlock, Jonathan (ed.) Guide to the Local Assemblies of the Knights of Labor. Westport, CT. 1982

Gleason, Alan H., “The History of Labor in Rochester: 1820 - 1880.” (MA Thesis, University of Rochester). 1941

Hawley, Natalie F. “The Labor Movement in Rochester: 1880 - 1898.” (MA Thesis, University of Rochester). 1948

Koveleski, Emanuel (ed.). Illustrated History of the Central Trades and Labor Council, Rochester, N.Y. (Rochester, 1927)

Rochester Trades Assembly, Illustrated History of the Rochester Trades Assembly and the Building Trades Council, Rochester, N.Y. (Rochester, 1897)

Of the many other studies and articles consulted, too numerous to list, four are cited in the text:

Brecher, Jeremy, Strike! (San Francisco, 1972; revised and updated edition, Boston, 1997).

Ness, Immanuel and Stuart Eimer, Central Labor Councils and the Revival of American Unionism: Organizing for Justice in Our Communities. (Armonk, NY, 2001).

Ross, Steven J., Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America. (Princeton, 1998). (Quotation from Ross introduction to Labor’s Reward as part of 1998 Labor Film Series)

Weir, Robert E. Beyond Labor’s Veil: The Culture of the Knights of Labor. (University Park, PA, 1996).