Contains a transcribed copy of Lucille Kendall's 1976 interviews with Mildred Edmondson documenting her work with the California State Employment Service and the War Manpower Commission in the 1930s and 1940s, with an emphasis on the role of women and trade unions in the war industries during World War II.

Mildred Edmondson was born in 1914 in Oroville, California. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in the mid-1930s, and a master's degree in rehabilitative counseling from San Francisco State University in 1957. She began working for the California State Employment Service in 1937. Under the auspices of that agency, Edmondson conducted a survey of women employed in the war industries, compiling a trade union directory for women around 1941. In 1942, she accepted a job as a trade union liaison with the United States War Manpower Commission, working with unions to assign workers to high-priority projects and industries during World War II. She was also a member of the United Federal Workers. After the war, Edmondson worked for the Veterans Counseling Center at the University of California, Berkeley; the Alameda County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; and the Vocational Rehabilitation Service.

2 folders (0.2 Linear feet)

Copyright has been assigned to California Historical Society. Materials in these collections are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and may not be used without permission of California Historical Society. Use may be restricted by terms of CHS gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, licensing terms, and trademarks. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates: https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/