Lewis (William J.) Collection, [1919-1959], bulk 1933-1936

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Summary

Title:
William J. Lewis collection
Dates:
[1919-1959], bulk 1933-1936
Creators:
Lewis, William J.
Abstract:
Includes correspondence from the period of the 1934 Pacific Coast Maritime strike, when Lewis was International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) district president for the West Coast; scrapbooks from the 1934 strike era that document his strike leadership, his attempts to quash insurgent rank and file strike leaders like Harry Bridges, and the funeral procession for the two San Francisco strike supporters. Collection also contains the ILA district periodical Pacific Coast Longshoreman, August 12, 1935-April 20, 1936 and records from the 1934-1935 arbitration between the ILA and the Waterfront Employers Union that led to a strike settlement.
Extent:
.5 cubic feet (1 box)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William J. Lewis Collection, larc.ms.0119, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Background

Scope and content:

Includes correspondence from the period of the 1934 Pacific Coast Maritime strike, when Lewis was International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) district president for the West Coast; scrapbooks from the 1934 strike era that document his strike leadership, his attempts to quash insurgent rank and file strike leaders like Harry Bridges, and the funeral procession for the two San Francisco strike supporters. Collection also contains the ILA district periodical Pacific Coast Longshoreman, August 12, 1935-April 20, 1936 and records from the 1934-1935 arbitration between the ILA and the Waterfront Employers Union that led to a strike settlement.

Biographical / historical:

Before becoming International Longshoremen's Association President, Pacific Coast District(District 38), William Lewis worked on San Francisco docks as a longshoreman for nearly 25 years. In 1933 he became a business agent for the newly chartered ILA 38-79. In the short space of six months the organization grew from nothing to a claimed membership of nearly 4,000.

Processing information:

The collection was processed by Leon Sompolinsky in the Spring of 1997.

Physical location:
Collection is available onsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Leon Sompolinsky, revised by Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
Date Prepared:
© 1997, revised 2013
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-09-27T15:47-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William J. Lewis Collection, larc.ms.0119, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Location of this collection:
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722, US
Contact:
(415) 405-5549
specialcollections@sfsu.edu
Website