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Finding Aid to the Morris R. Evenson Papers,
1942-1988(Bulk, 1960-1987)
larc.ms.0044
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Title: Morris R. Evenson papers
Date (inclusive): 1942-1988
Date (bulk): 1960-1987
Collection number: larc.ms.0044
Accession number: 1985/027; 1987/056; 1988/062; 1991/06
Creator:
Evenson, Morris R.
Extent:
3.5 cubic ft.
(9 cartons)
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
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Abstract: The Morris R. Evenson Papers contain biographical material, personal correspondence, and writings, as well as records of the
International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades (IBPAT) Bay Area Local Unions (including correspondence, election records,
news clippings, and administrative and legal documents). The collection documents Evenson's roles as IBPAT Local 4's Business
Representative and Recording Secretary and his work to amalgamate separate Painters' locals in San Francisco. Union events,
particularly the IBPAT hearing of Local 4 official Dow Wilson, Wilson's assassination in 1966, the subsequent murder trial
of Carl Black and Max Ward, and the administration of the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds, are also documented. The collection
includes copies of
The Rank and File Voice (1986-1987),
The Bay Area Painters News (1965-1970),
THE VOICE of Painters, Tapers and Paperhangers (1970-1987), convention proceedings from the California State Conference of Painters (1956-1965), publications of the IBPAT,
and a cloth banner from Local 1158 of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers.
Location: Collection is available onsite.
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], Morris R. Evenson Papers, larc.ms.0044, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State
University.
The materials in this collection were acquired in four separate donations, from Morris R. Evenson (in 1985 and 1987) and from
his widow Jill Evenson (in 1988 and 1991). Accession numbers 1985/027, 1987/056, 1988/062, and 1991/06.
The collection was processed by Carol Cuenod, 1997.
Biography/Organization History
Biography of Morris R. Evenson
Morris R. Evenson was born in Wisconsin in 1920, but spent his childhood school years in St. Paul, Minnesota. He dropped out
of school in the ninth grade. Later he wrote, "It took both his hands to count the unions he had been a member of--Teamos,
Seamen, Electrical (Workers) in a radio factory, a busboy in the Culinary Workers, a switchman in the Railroad Brotherhood,
a coffin maker in the Carpenters Union, and a plastic molder in the Machinists..." in addition to the Painters Union (Evenson).
He claimed that it was his life as a merchant seaman in the National Maritime Union (NMU) which continued his education, teaching
him about unions and different political points of view. It was as a merchant seaman in the NMU that he served his country
during World War II. By 1948, Evenson had identified himself with the "left-wingers" in the Union, and became a victim of
the purge of communists and their sympathizers by NMU President Joseph Curran. He was in New Orleans when he was expelled
from the NMU. Evenson moved to San Francisco in 1948 and, in 1952, joined the Painters Union Local 1158.
Evenson was elected Business Representative of Painters Union Local 1158 in 1961. He also became a member of a rank-and-file
caucus working to amalgamate the two separate locals in San Francisco- Local 1158 and Local 19. This was accomplished in 1963,
forming Painters Local Union 4- the largest Painters Local in the country. Evenson was elected its first Business Representative.
He worked closely with Dow Wilson, who served as a Business Representative in Local 19. Wilson was elected the first Recording
Secretary of Local 4.
When Wilson was assassinated in 1966, Evenson stepped in to continue Wilson's work as Local 4 Recording Secretary. He was
also elected a trustee of the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds and served for 10 years as its chairman.
When he retired, Evenson focused his attention on the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds and also published a newsletter called
The Rank and File Voice. He died in 1988.
Dow Wilson's life had many parallels with Evenson's. He was born in 1926 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Like Evenson, his formal
education ended in the ninth grade. In 1942, at age 16, he also went to sea as a member of the National Maritime Union. Like
Evenson, he was charged by the NMU leadership of being a communist; however, he successfully fought the charges while acting
as his own attorney. Wilson left the NMU in the early 1950s, became a house painter and a member of Painters Union Local 19
in San Francisco. Wilson and Evenson had known about each other in the NMU, but did not meet until they became union brothers
in the San Francisco Painters locals. Wilson was elected a business representative in Local 19 and was also in the caucus
working for the amalgamation of the two painters locals. When the amalgamated local was chartered, Wilson was elected the
first Local 4 Recording Secretary- the Local's most important officer.
Dow Wilson was assassinated three years later in 1966. A month later, Lloyd Green, an official of the Painters Union Local
127 in the East Bay, was also killed. A significant motive for these assassinations was the fight waged by Wilson and his
supporters against the misuse and embezzlement of the Painters Union Trust Funds. Evenson was elected Recording Secretary
to replace Wilson during the period of turmoil and fear following the deaths of Wilson and Green.
The Morris R. Evenson Papers are divided into six series.
In addition to manuscripts and documents generated by Morris Evenson himself, the collection contains a large amount of originals
or copies of the Bay Area
Painters Union records covering the years when Evenson was an official and after his retirement.
Series I contains records relating to Evenson's early life, his personal interests outside the Painters Union, and his friends.
Additional biographical information can be found in Series III in Evenson's manuscript
The Brotherood of Blood and Allies Crimes.
Series II contains records of the Bay Area Painters Unions, including correspondence, election records, circulating letters
to the membership, copies of news articles about the Union, records of political activity, some negotiating files, and Union
Constitution and Bylaws.
Series III documents Evenson's association with Dow Wilson. It includes Evenson's manuscript
The Brotherhood of Blood and Allied Crimes , a fictionalized account of Wilson's life and murder. Series III also includes the murder trial transcript, notes taken by
Evenson, and contemporary newspaper accounts.
Series IV contains records relating to the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds, documenting Evenson's fight for honest administration
of these Funds and his efforts to
improve members' benefits under them. It includes a case file on Douglas Page, a Trust Fund attorney, whom Evenson accused
of illegally signing Trustees' names and
notarizing them.
Series V holds a run of
The Rank and File Voice (1986-1987) which Evenson published, as well as the records generated by its publication--drafts of articles, cartoons, a collection
of publications from the League for Industrial Democracy, a group which fought
corruption in unions. There are flyers from different "rank and file" groups in Local 4 and other unions. Also present is
Dow Wilson's defense testimony from his
1965 International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades hearing, which includes a detailed description of collective bargaining
for painters in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
Series VI contains Local 4's newspapers which Evenson prepared for deposit in the Archives. Included are
The Rank and File Voice (1986-1987),
The Bay Area Painters News (1965-1970),
THE VOICE of Painters, Tapers and Paperhangers (1970-1987), convention proceedings from the California State
Conference of Painters (1956-1965), and publications of the IBPAT.
A banner from Local 1158, Evenson's first Local when he joined the Painters Union in San Francisco, is also part of this collection.
For additional sources in the Labor Archives on Morris Evenson and the Bay Area Painters Union, see:
Title:
Organized Labor
Note
See columns "Painters News-Local 19" by Dow Wilson, mid-1955 to 7/22/63, "1158 Painters" by Morris Evenson, 1/14/63 to 7/22/63,
"Painters News-Local 4" by Dow Wilson, 8/12/63 to 10/11/65)
Identifier/Call Number: larc.pho.0054
Title: Morris Evenson Photograph Collection
For additional sources in the Labor Archives on Dow Wilson, see:
Identifier/Call Number: larc.ms.0139
Title: San Francisco Building Trades Council records, 1907-1986
Evenson, Morris R.
Wilson, Dow.
International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades.
Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers of America.
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
Labor unions--California--History.
Labor unions--California--Periodicals.
Trials (Murder).