This material documents Vernon L. Gough's involvement with the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes (renamed in 1967 to Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes [Employees]), as a member, organizer, and General Chairman. The collection also includes material related to Mr. Gough's career with the Railway Express Agency (REA) and some of his personal financial records. The collection includes: membership cards, special organizer's credentials, railroad travel passes, ledgers for dues, expenses, meeting attendance, and financial reports for retirement funds. There is also correspondence and minutes from a meeting of the South Pacific District Board of Adjustment, taken during his tenure as Chairman in 1968.

Vernon Lawrence Gough was born in Illinois on March 7, 1902. He passed away in Orange County on Aug. 29, 1992. His career as a railway clerk included employment as a clerk-adjuster for the Railway Express Agency and member (ca. 1940-1980s), organizer (1940-1944), and General Chairman (ca. 1940-1968) of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes, South Pacific District Board of Adjustment No. 514, and a member of the Railway Clerks Political League. He married his wife, Evelyn in 1922. • The Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes began as the Order of Railway Clerks, organized in December 1899, in Sedalia, Missouri. By 1919 it had expanded to include several classes of workers and it was renamed Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes. Airline clerks were added in 1945, although the word "airline" did not appear in the official union name until 1967. •The American Railway Express Company was created when the U.S. government took control of the railroads and all express movements in the United States. The government merged the Great Northern Express Company, Northern Express Company and Western Express Company, Adams Express Company, American Express Company, Wells Fargo, Inc. and Southern Express Company to form the American Railway Express Company. •In 1929, 69 railroads organized the Railway Express Agency and bought American Railway Express on March 1, 1929. REA was profitable into the 1970s, when the loss of airline contracts led to a declaration of bankruptcy in 1975. [V.S. Roseman, RAILWAY EXPRESS: AN OVERVIEW, 1992.]

2 boxes + 1 oversize box

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