The Ward M. Canaday Center

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

Central Labor Union of Toledo and Vicinity records, 1915-1971

MSS-090

Size: 1 linear foot

Provenance: Received from Northwest Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council

Access: open

Related Collections: Central Labor Union materials also located at Jerome Library, Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University.

Processing Note:  None

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: Kristina Lininger, 2008.

 

Historical Sketch

 

The origins of the Central Labor Union can be traced to 1879, when a group of separate trade unions met to form the Trade and Labor Council of Toledo and Vicinity. The council was reorganized as the Central Labor Union in 1881, and became a charter member of the national organization in 1892. The CLU sought to organize all labor; they promoted anti-child labor legislation, an eight-hour workday, fair wages, prison labor reform, compulsory education, and equal pay for equal work for both sexes. In 1955, it merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Today the CLU remains active as the Toledo AFL-CIO.

 

 

Scope and content note

 

The collection consists primarily of Toledo CLU yearbooks, (1915-1919, 1945, 1952, 1956-1957) and annual rental statements that document the finances of Old Central, Inc., the management company of Labor Temple located in downtown Toledo that housed the Central Labor Union and subsidiary trade union offices. Some of the material reflects the involvement of the Toledo Building Trades Council, which generated the records, including minutes (1915, 1920) and correspondence. Also in the collection is AFL-CIO Toledo constitution and bylaws and documentation (ca. 1956-58) stemming from the Central Union's merger with that organization and rental statements (1938-1952).

 

 

Folder List

 

Box     Folder             Arrangement

 

1          1                      Accountant's Reports, 1942-1956

1          2                      Attendance Roosters, 1958-1959

1          3                      AFL-CIO Merger Materials (inc. correspondence, clippings,

                                    minutes, etc.) ca. 1956-58

1          4                      AFL-CIO Toledo Constitution and By-laws, 1958

1          5                      CLU Official Yearbook, 1915

1          6                      CLU Official Yearbook, 1916

1          7                      CLU Official Yearbook, 1917

1          8                      CLU Official Yearbook, 1918

1          9                      CLU Official Yearbook, 1919 (including "Early History of Toledo

                                    Labor Movement)

1          10                    CLU Official Yearbook, 1945

1          11                    CLU Official Yearbook, 1952

1          12                    CLU Official Yearbook, 1956

1          13                    CLU Official Yearbook, 1957

1          14                    Hall Rental Records, 1966

1          15                    Miscellaneous, n.d.

1          16                    Miscellaneous Legal/Financial Materials

1          17                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1938-40

1          18                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1941-42

1          19                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1943-44

1          20                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1945-46

1          21                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1947

1          22                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1948-49

1          23                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1950

1          24                    Old Central Inc., Rental Statements, 1951-52

1          25                    Old Central Inc., Stock Certificates, 1938-1971

1          26                    Toledo Building Trades Council Minutes, June-Sept., 1915

1          27                    Toledo Building Trades Council Minutes, March-Sept., 1920

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22