Biographical Information:
Scope and Contents
Arrangement of Materials:
Conditions Governing Access:
Accruals:
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation:
Processing Information:
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Theodore "Ted" R. Ellsworth Collection
Creator:
Ellsworth, Theodore R., 1906-1996
Identifier/Call Number: URB.TRE
Extent:
5.29 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1878-2009
Date (bulk): 1950-1990
Abstract: Ted Ellsworth's activities as a health
plan administrator and consultant, union representative and labor management arbitrator,
educator, and activist for the aging ranged over a period of more than 45 years. The
Ellsworth Collection documents his consulting and efforts on behalf of AB-1 on malpractice,
his activities while affiliated with UCLA, transcripts of arbitration cases, and
correspondence to and from Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen
Harry Waxman, Anthony Beilenson, and Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and
Medicare.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt Ellsworth's activities as a health plan administrator and
consultant, union representative, labor management arbitrator, educator, and activist for
the aging ranged over a period of more than 45 years. Ellsworth was active in the Motion
Picture Costumers Union Local 705 (I.A.T.S.E.), became the chapter's first President, and
started the
Costumer newsletter in 1941 for the benefit of
members serving in WWII.
Ellsworth participated in local 705's first negotiating committee, and served as Business
Agent for local 705 from 1942 to 1952. Ellsworth was not a communist, but he opposed
union-busting policy, and testified under Congressional immunity before the Kearns
Committee. After helping to form the Motion Picture Health and Welfare Fund, Ellsworth
became its first administrator and served from 1952-1958.
In the 1940s, John Anson Ford appointed Ellsworth to the Advisory Board on Aging (later
the Los Angeles County Commission on Aging) where he served into the 1950s, including two
terms as president. In 1957, he helped organize a congressional hearing in Los Angeles led
by Congressman Jimmy Roosevelt that focused on problems of older workers.
Ellsworth was one of the first to receive UCLA's Certificate in Industrial Relations in
1950. In 1958, he joined the Center for Labor Research and Education within the Institute of
Industrial Relations where he functioned as Administrator of Public Programs and Associate
Administrator of Labor Programs. From 1950 to 1958, Ellsworth taught UC extension classes in
Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara on labor history, health, welfare and
pension plans, grievances, and arbitration. In the Fall of 1963, he also taught a University
of California extension course at Roosevelt Jr. High in San Diego, titled Health, Welfare
and Pension Plans.
Ellsworth was a member of the California Citizen's Advisory Committee on Aging, President
of the International Senior Citizens Association, President of the Senior Coalition
Political Action Committee, co-founder of the Los Angeles County Affiliated Agencies on
Aging, and Chairman of the Steering Committee, Alliance for Health Care Cost Containment.
Ted was also Vice-Chairman of the California Commission on Aging, a member of the House
Conference Committee on Aging, and was a representative to the 1981 White House Conference
on Aging. He died of heart failure on April 26, 1996 at the age of 90.
Scope and Contents
The
Theodore "Ted" R. Ellsworth Collection documents
Ellsworth's consulting and efforts on behalf of AB-1 on malpractice, his activities while
affiliated with UCLA, transcripts of arbitration cases, and correspondence to and from
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen Harry Waxman, Anthony
Beilenson, and Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and Medicare.The
collection is divided into five major series:
Manuscripts, Speeches, and
Personal Papers
(1878-2009),
Unions, Health Plan
Administration, and Consulting
(1954-1996),
Conferences,
Training, and Workshops
(1948-1994),
Arbitration
(1972-1988), and
Aging (1938-1995).
Series I,
Manuscripts, Speeches, and Personal Papers, contains
one folder dedicated to an extensive collection of biographical information in the form of
resumes, news clippings, and lists of programs presented at UCLA from 1958-1962. In
addition, there are personal papers and photographs related to Ellworth's academic and
athletic career at Occidental College, his brief time in Cincinnati, Ohio, his political
campaign, and the construction of his home in the Wonderland area of the Hollywood Hills.
Ellsworth's friends and colleagues are also represented in this series, including some
individuals affiliated with the Motion Picture Costumers Local 705, I.A.T.S.E.
Series II,
Unions, Health Plan Administration, and Consulting,
includes business papers, reports, health plans, fee schedules, financial statements,
correspondence, news clippings, minutes, and handwritten notes. The series includes a
notebook on the Health Plan Consultants Committee (HPCC), now the Southern California
Association of Benefit Plan Administrators. Loose papers collected by Ellsworth representing
general consulting activities or activities related to his efforts on behalf of AB-1 on
malpractice are housed in separate folders. Items are arranged in folders alphabetically by
organization or creator.
Series III,
Conferences, Training, and Workshops documents
Ellsworth's committee activities and courses he attended. Materials related to Ellsworth's
activities while affiliated with UCLA are arranged separately from those related to
activities after his retirement or while working on projects that were not directly related
to UCLA programs.
Series IV,
Arbitration, includes transcripts of arbitration
cases as well as correspondence and handwritten notes. Cases involve The Boys Market, Inc.,
UFCW, Local 770, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Los Angeles Police Department;
Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., the Phoenix Mailers' Union, Local 52; Safeway Stores, Inc., and
UFCW, Local 770.
Series V,
Aging, includes correspondence to and from Governor
Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senator Pete Wilson, Congressmen Harry Waxman, Anthony Beilenson, and
Hilary Clinton regarding changes to social security and Medicare, as well as VHS tapes
documenting aging related events and association history.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Manuscripts, Speeches, and Personal Papers, 1878-2009
Series II: Unions, Health Plan Administration, and Consulting, 1954-1996
Series III: Conferences, Training, and Workshops, 1948-1994
Series IV: Arbitration, 1972-1988
Series V: Aging, 1938-1995
Related Material
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Accruals:
2010, 2017
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Dr. Alexandra Kindell. 07/29/2009. 2010, 2017
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Robert G. Marshall and Jackie Zak, 2009
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs