Title: Catherine Laidlaw collection

Dates: 1893-1971

Collection Number: MS 412

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 5 boxes and 1 oversize box

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Abstract: Contains material collected by Catherine Laidlaw through her involvement in the Sacramento branches of both the Ladies' Society of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman and Enginemen and the Grand International Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Language of Material: English

This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff to arrange for access.

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM 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.

Catherine Laidlaw collection. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Gift of Catherine Laidlaw, 1987.

The Ladies' Society of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen was organized in Tucson, Arizona in April 1884. The Ladies' Society was recognized as an auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen at its 2nd Biennial Convention held in September 1890 in San Francisco. California Poppy Lodge No. 621 was established in 1930 in Sacramento, California. In 1969, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Switchmen's Union of North America merged to form the United Transportation Union. The Ladies' Society voted against joining the UTU. The national organization dissolved in 1972. The Grand International Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was organized by women who assisted with preparations for the 1887 BLE Convention. Division 1 was organized in Chicago, on October 16, 1887. Its purpose was to "serve the interests and welfare of the Grand International Auxiliary and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers' members and their families throughout the United States and Canada." In 1892, the Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker, Division No. 180 of the Grand International Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was established in Sacramento, California. Today, there are many active divisions of GIA in the United States and Canada. Catherine Laidlaw (March 1, 1905 - December 12, 2002) was the President of the California Poppy Lodge No. 621 of the Ladies' Society of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen in 1960 and held the position of Secretary from 1963 until it dissolved in 1972. She was a member of the Grand International Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Division No. 180.

Contains material collected by Catherine Laidlaw through her involvement in the Sacramento branches of both the Ladies' Society of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman and Enginemen and the Grand International Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Artifacts related to the activities of Catherine Laidlaw have been catalogued into the Museum's permanent collection. These include regalia, ribbons, buttons, and pins. Please contact the Director of Collections for more information. This collection has been arranged into two series: 1. LADIES' SOCIETY OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN 2. GRAND INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, MRS. MARGARET E. CROCKER DIVISION NO. 180 1 LADIES' SOCIETY OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN, CALIFORNIA POPPY LODE NO. 621, 1884-1971 Correspondence includes letters, newsletters, cards, forms, reports from sister lodges, the parent Ladies' organization, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Enginemen, the United Transportation Union, various charities, and members. Acknowledgments of the many sympathy and get well cards sent by the "California Poppy" Lodge are found in this series. Includes correspondence received from the Red Cross, from the Grand President of the national organization, Marian Koger, and from the Grand Secretary and Treasurer, Helen Robinson. Newspaper and magazine clippings highlight the meetings, conferences, and anniversary celebrations of California Poppy Lodge No. 621. Also includes the Ladies' Society constitution, membership directories and lists, annual and quarterly reports from the Treasurer's Office, the Collector's Office, the Grand President and the California Poppy Lodge, price lists, vouchers, attendance records and registers. Minutes cover routine business such as appointments and elections, fund-raising activities, members' illnesses, financial matters, state meetings, committee reports and the proposed union with the United Transportation Union. Organized alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically. 2 GRAND INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, MRS. MARGARET E. CROCKER DIVISION NO. 180, 1893-1980 Includes membership books, attendance registers, roll calls of officers, a book outlining the rituals associated with meetings, and record books of the insurance secretary and the relief secretary. Also contains music and song books, ode cards, lyric cards and the lyrics to the "GIA (Grand International Auxiliary) Song".