The Ward M. Canaday Centerfor Special CollectionsThe University of Toledo |
Finding Aid
Timothy J. McCormick Papers, 1940-1964
MSS-010
Size: 2 linear feet
Provenance: Timothy J. McCormick donated his papers to the University of Toledo Libraries apparently in 1967. There are no restrictions on the use of this collection. Access: Open
Access: Open
Collection Summary: Materials document the consolidation of labor unions after World War II, especially in the realm of railroads. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence among railroad labor organizers and publications of labor organizations (e.g. the Consolidation Committee of Enginemen's Consolidator and the United Railroad Operating Crafts' UROC Facts) with which McCormick was involved.
Subjects: labor
Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.
Completed by: Paul Gifford, 1986
Reformatted by: Arjun Sabharwal, June 2009, last updated: April, 2014
Introduction
The papers of Timothy J. McCormick, dating from 1940 to 1964, reflect the concerns of a Toledo locomotive engineer and labor organizer. McCormick's strong interest was in the consolidation of the various railroad brotherhoods into a single industrial union. McCormick's papers are a useful source for the study of the postwar labor-union amalgamation movement. They also contribute to the study of progressive labor activity in Toledo. The materials in this collection consist primarily of correspondence with other rail road labor organizers and publications of labor organizations with which McCormick was involved.
Biographical Sketch
1907
|
born in Toledo, Ohio |
1924
|
hired as fireman on New York Central Railroad |
1928
|
joined Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen |
1930
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furloughed from this job |
1930-1937
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member of Socialist Party; local organizer for the Toledo Industrial Union Council; business agent, United Truck Operators Union; field representative, Congress of Industrial Organizations |
1937
|
recalled to work on New York Central Railroad |
1941
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promoted to locomotive engineer, NYCRR |
1943-1947
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Local Chairman, Lodge #2, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen |
1944-1946
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President, Toledo Area Council of Railroad Workers |
1946
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member, Board of Trustees, General Grievance Committee of the New York Central Lines, Western Division |
1947 |
under pseudonym "Adam Fireman," a member of Executive and Editorial Committees, Consolidation Committee of Enginemen |
1948
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Chairman, Committee on Public Relations, Consolidation Committee of Enginemen |
1949
|
expelled from Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen |
1951-1955
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active organizer and member of United Railroad Operating Crafts |
1956-1959
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Local Chairman, Division 457, Brotherhood of Locomotive Enginemen |
1964 |
Vice-Chairman, Toledo Civil Liberties Union |
Scope and Content Note
Practically all the items in the Timothy J. McCormick Papers pertain to railroad labor union activity. As an officer in the Toledo "lodge" of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and in the Toledo division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Enginemen, McCormick participated in the leadership of long-established unions. His principal activity, as reflected by his papers, however, was as a leading organizer of ran k-and-file movements within those unions. Those movements demanded the consolidation of all railroad unions, heretofore organized on a craft basis, into a single industrial union.
The strength of the papers lies in the correspondence and other material generated by leaders of two successive consolidation organizations: the Consolidation Committee of Enginemen (1946-50) and the United Railroad Operating Crafts (1951-56 and later). McCormick routinely received copies of official internal correspondence. He also was careful in retaining duplicate copies of outgoing correspondence. Prominent correspondents include organizers and officers of those consolidation movements: Bert H. Nelson, Russell R. Walker, and the prolific Trotskyist Charles R. Hedlund, among others.
Other material contains useful information. The CCE's organ Consolidator and the UROC's UROC Facts reflect organizing aims and public policies of those organizations. There are a number of posters and flyers, many produced in Toledo.
Although this collection is a valuable source for information on consolidation movements within the railroad unions, researchers in other labor topics will probably find little use for it. McCormick's papers have served as a primary source for two studies, which the user of these papers would be well advised to consult:
George R. Horton and H. Ellsworth Steele, "The Unity Issue among Railroad Engineers and Firemen," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 10 (October 1956): 48-69. (Offprint of this article can be found in the McCormick Papers.)
Anne Skalski, "A Rank and File Challenge to the Leadership of the Enginemen's Brotherhoods: The Rise and Fall of the Consolidation Committee of Enginemen, 1946-1949." (M. A. thesis, Department of History, University of Toledo, 1971)
Folder List
Box |
Folder |
|
1 |
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen |
|
1 |
Lodge #2, Toledo -Correspondence, 1943-49 |
|
2 |
General Grievance Committee, New York Central Lines West -General, 1946-51 |
|
3 |
Convention, 1947 |
|
4 |
Trial against McCormick, Carman, and Rasmussen, 1949 |
|
Toledo Area Council of Railroad Workers |
||
5 |
Minutes and constitution, 1943-46 |
|
6 |
General, 1944-46, 1959 |
|
Consolidation Committee of Enginemen |
||
7 |
National Board. Minutes, 1947-48 |
|
Correspondence |
||
8 |
1946 |
|
9 |
jan . -Apr. 1947 |
|
10 |
May-Dec. 1947 |
|
11 |
Jan.-Mar. 1948 |
|
12 |
Apr. -Dec. 1948 |
|
13 |
1949 |
|
14 |
Financial reports |
|
15 |
Toledo Area District. General, 1948 |
|
United Railroad Operating Crafts |
||
16 |
Minutes of various divisions, 1953-54 |
|
17 |
Correspondence from J. A. Ford |
|
Correspondence |
||
18 |
1951 |
|
19 |
1952 |
|
20 |
1953 (2) |
|
21 |
||
22 |
1954 |
|
23 |
1955 |
|
24 |
1956 |
|
25 |
Legal cases |
|
26 |
Local 101, Toledo |
|
2 |
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers |
|
1 |
Trials |
|
2 |
Division #457. General, 1956-59 |
|
3 |
Progressive Caucus of Enginemen, 1958-59 |
|
4 |
Joint Strike Committee, New York Central West, 1962-64 |
|
Personal |
||
5 |
Correspondence, 1940-65 |
|
6 |
Locomotive engineer's certificate |
|
7 |
Articles by T. J. McCormick |
|
Court briefs |
||
8 |
Brandon vs. New York Central Railroad |
|
9 |
General |
|
10 |
Miscellaneous |
|
11 |
Matthew Brandon -correspondence |
|
12 |
Photographs |
|
13 |
Cartoons |
|
14 |
Articles written for the Consolidator by T. J. McCormick, 1946-48 |
|
The Consolidator |
||
15 |
Aug. 1946-0ct. 29, 1947 |
|
16 |
Nov. 13, 1947-May 18, 1950 |
|
17 |
Consolidation News |
|
United Railroad Operating Crafts |
||
Various publications |
||
UROC Facts |
||
18 |
Sept. 14, 1951-Mar. 15, 1953 |
|
19 |
Apr. 1, 1953-Mar. 5, 1958 |
|
20 |
Local News |
|
21 |
The Beacon 1955 |
|
22 |
Publications of various rail road labor organizations |
|
23 |
Posters and flyers |
|
24 |
Pamphlets (2) |
|
25 |