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American Association for Labor Legislation Records

 Collection
Identifier: 5001

Scope and Contents

Records consist of correspondence, committee minutes, reports, financial records and research documents generated by staff members to facilitate legislative programs. These research materials deal with the following subjects: general labor law, general social insurance, health insurance, occupational safety, diseases and accidents, labor law administration, pensions and old age benefits, unemployment, wages, hours of work, working conditions, workers' compensation and unionism.

Dates

  • 1905-1943

Language of Materials

Collection material in English, Italian

Conditions Governing Access

Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

Biographical / Historical

CHRONOLOGY OF JOHN B. ANDREWS

1880: Born at South Wayne/ Lafayette County, Wisconsin, August 2

1904: A.B. from the University of Wisconsin

1905: A.M. from Dartmouth, Economics

1908: Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin, Economics

1909: Executive Secretary, member of Executive Committee, American Association of Labor Legislation, February 12

1910: Married Irene Osgood, August 8

1911: Founder and editor, American Labor Legislation Review (quarterly)

1913: Member Mayor's Committee on Unemployment (New York)

1919: U.S. Delegate to International Labor Office, Conferenc Geneva

1920: Lecturer on Social Legislation at Columbia; (also 192 1930, 1939)

1921: Member President's Unemployment Conference

1931: Member Pennsylvania Unemployment Commission

1932: Member New York Commission on Workmen's Compensation

1936: U.S. Delegate, International Labor Organization, Geneva

1937: Acting as consultant, Social Security Board

1938: Special Agent, U.S. Department of Labor

1939: Member Advisory Council, U.S. Employment Service

1943: Died, January 4

Biographical / Historical

The American Association for Labor Legislation was formed to promote uniformity of labor legislation and to encourage the study of labor conditions with a view toward promoting desirable legislation.

The Association was founded as a branch of the International Association for Labor Legislation. Preliminary discussions about forming the group occurred during 1905 and culminated in the first meeting of the Association held on February 15, 1906, in New York City.

During the Association's first few years, three basic objectives were established: to serve as the American branch of the International Association for Labor Legislation; to promote uniformity of labor legislation in the United States; and to encourage the study of labor conditions with a view toward promoting desirable labor legislation.

John Bertram Andrews was appointed executive secretary in 1909. His wife, Irene Osgood Andrews, eventually became associate secretary. John Andrews, as lobbyist, lecturer, author and editor of the publication The American Labor Legislation Review, became the motivating force of the Association. Broadly speaking, the American Association for Labor Legislation set the following goals: the alleviation of adverse working conditions; the creation of laws to protect safety and health on the job; and the provision of compensation in times of unemployment and benefits for workers no longer able to participate in the labor force. To facilitate the implementation of the Association's interests, study groups were established to investigate labor conditions. Active lobbying was undertaken in support of protective labor legislation in state and federal legislatures, and critiques were published concerning pending bills. The lifetime of the Association roughly corresponded to Andrews'

lifetime; its activities ceased after his death in 1943.

Extent

57 cubic feet

Abstract

Records consist of correspondence, committee minutes, reports, financial records and research documents generated by staff members to facilitate legislative programs. These research materials deal with the following subjects: general labor law, general social insurance, health insurance, occupational safety, diseases and accidents, labor law administration, pensions and old age benefits, unemployment, wages, hours of work, working conditions, workers' compensation and unionism.

Quantity:

57 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Broadsides (notices), correspondence, records .

General

Contact Information:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives Martin P. Catherwood Library 227 Ives Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3183> kheel_center@cornell.edu http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel-center
Compiled by:
R. Miles, March 15, 2016
EAD encoding:
Randall Miles, October 19, 2016
Title
American Association for Labor Legislation Records
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by R. Miles
Date
October 19, 2016
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 02/23/2024: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)

Repository Details

Part of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives Repository

Contact:
227 Ives Hall
Ithaca NY 14853