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Finding Aid to the David F. Selvin Photograph Collection
larc.pho.0019
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Table of contents
Title: David F. Selvin photograph collection
Date (inclusive): 1861-1991
Date (bulk): 1960-1980
Creator:
Selvin, David F.
Extent:
5.5 Cubic Feet
(10 boxes and 1 oversize box)
Collection number: larc.pho.0019
Accession number: 1985/002
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Abstract: Comprises photographs gathered by Selvin in his role as editor of
Northern Califonia Labor, a labor newspaper he founded in 1951. The photographs were also used in several books and articles Selvin published related
to labor history.
Physical Location: Collection available on site.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Material Specific Details: The bulk of the materials comprise black and white prints of various sizes. Also includes negatives, contact sheets, and half-tone
prints as well as correspondence pertaining to Selvin's aquisition of some of the photographs.
Collection is open for research.
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.
[Identification of item], David F. Selvin Photograph Collection, larc.pho.0019, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco
State University.
Photographs were donated with the David Selvin papers in 1985, accession number 1985/002.
Processed by Labor Archives and Research Center staff; revised by Frances Wratten Kaplan in 2016.
Arranged in five series: Series 1, Unions, is arranged alphabetically by union name. Series 2, General Subjects, is arranged
alphabetically by subject. Series 3, Individuals and Groups, is arranged alphabetically by individual's last name. Series
4, Published Works, and Series 5, Miscellany, are arranged as received.
David Selvin (1913-2007) was a noted labor journalist, historian, author and activist. Selvin was working on a M.A. in Labor
Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, when the 1934 Waterfront and General Strike shut down the docks in San
Francisco. He later wrote about this period in his book,
A Terrible Anger: The 1934 Waterfront and General Strikes in San Francisco. In 1951, after writing about labor issues for various San Francisco-based newspapers, Selvin took a job at the San Francisco
Labor Council as editor of
Northern California Labor, a position he held for nearly 30 years.
Selvin authored several books about labor history and labor leaders, including
Sky Full of Storm: A Brief History of California Labor,
A Place in the Sun: History of Californian Labor,
The Other San Francisco, and
The Thundering Voice of John L. Lewis. Selvin was also involved in the formation of both the Labor Studies program and the Labor Archives and Research Center at
San Francisco State University.
This collection consists of photographs gathered by Selvin in his role as editor of
Northern Califonia Labor, a labor newspaper he founded in 1951. Other photographs were used in several books and articles Selvin authored related
to labor history, in particular, his 1996 book,
A Terrible Anger: The 1934 Waterfront and General Strikes in San Francisco.
Many of the photographs in this collection are reprints from various repositories including the National Archives, the Library
of Congress, Wayne State University, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the California Historical Society.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Labor unions -- Membership -- Photographs.
Labor unions -- California -- San Francisco -- Photographs.
Strikes and lockouts -- California -- San Francisco -- Photographs.
Strikes and lockouts -- Hospitals -- Photographs.
Labor union members -- Portraits.
Picketing -- Photographs.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union -- Pictorial works
Photographic prints.
Service Employees International Union -- Pictorial works
Retail Clerks International Union. Local 1100 (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial Works
Retail Clerks International Union. Local 648 (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Pictorial Works
International Longshore and Warehouse Union--Pictorial works