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Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771
Collection
URB.OFT
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771 Collection
Creator:
Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771
Identifier/Call Number: URB.OFT
Extent:
1.25 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1940-1955
Abstract: The Oakland Federation of Teachers
first organized on May 3, 1943 as the Alameda County Federation of Teachers, Local 771 of
the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to both "improve the educational facilities for
the children of the nation and to improve the working conditions of the teachers in the
public schools." The collection traces the Oakland Federation of Teachers via its
administrative history, communications with union members, and relations with the
Superintendent of Oakland Public Schools from 1940 to 1955, and includes union
administrative records, bulletins, committee and officer reports, constitution and by-laws,
correspondence, membership records, newsletters, and platform and position
papers.
Language of Material: English
The Oakland Federation of Teachers first organized on May 3, 1943 as the Alameda County
Federation of Teachers, Local 771 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to both
"improve the educational facilities for the children of the nation and to improve the
working conditions of the teachers in the public schools." The union originally included
both the Alameda and Oakland school districts but a post-war baby boom that expanded the
district's number of new students and staff members led to the union's division into two
separate locals. The ACFT, Local 771 became the Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771 in
July of 1949. Around 1980 the local changed to its current name, the United Teachers of
Oakland.
As president of Local 771, Edwin Ross worked closely with the Office of Public Schools to
guarantee faculty and students reasonable class sizes, adequate materials for teachers to
successfully educate students, and provide teachers with fair compensation for their
work.
The
Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771 Collection
traces the Oakland Federation of Teachers via its administrative history, communications
with union members, and relations with the Superintendent of Oakland Public Schools from
1940 to 1955. The collection includes union administrative records, bulletins, committee and
officer reports, constitution and by-laws, correspondence, membership records, newsletters,
platform and position papers, in addition to correspondence with other teachers' unions and
the Oakland Superintendent of Schools. Although actively pursuing customary union concerns
such as a retirement plan for teachers and salary adjustments, the records emphasize the
union's relationship with the local board of education rather than collective bargaining
issues. The collection has been organized in three series:
Alameda
County Federation of Teachers, Local 771
(1940-1949),
Oakland
Federation of Teachers, Local 771
(1949-1955), and
Oakland
Public Schools
(1945-1955).
Series I,
Alameda County Federation of Teachers, Local 771,
contains attendance registers, correspondence, and minutes of the executive board, regular
membership, and committee meetings, union bulletins and newsletters, newspaper clippings,
resolutions, and a retirement plan for the local. Files are arranged in alphabetical
order.
Series II,
Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771, contains
attendance registers, correspondence, and minutes of the executive board, regular
membership, and committee meetings, union bulletins and newsletters, the local's
constitution and by-laws, and newspaper clippings. Files are arranged in alphabetical
order.
Series III,
Oakland Public Schools, contains bulletins, and
correspondence for the Superintendent of Schools of Oakland Public Schools, and a platform
for the Board of Education in Oakland. Files are arranged in alphabetical order.
Series I: Alameda County Federation of Teachers, Local 771, 1940-1949
Series II: Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771, 1949-1955
Series III: Oakland Public Schools, 1945-1955
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Oakland Federation of Teachers, Local 771, 10/28/1991
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Erin V. Morton, 1993
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents