John Francis Freeman's International Typographical Union Papers

John F. Freeman, was born in Chesterfield, England, he came to the United States as a child with his mother and two sisters. He was one of the original employes of The Binghamton Press and he worked in newspaper composing rooms for 62 years before retiring in 1954.

The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a US trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the International Typographical Union at its Albany, New York, convention in 1869 after it began organizing members in Canada. The ITU was one of the first unions to admit female members, admitting women members such as Augusta Lewis, Mary Moore and Eva Howard in 1869.