Reel 15

Scope and Contents May was a month of rebuilding for the union. Letters went out to all state organizers, commenting on the problems in their respective states (1). The DCF investigating committee met on May 10 and issued a report (11). There is an especially interesting exchange of letters between Mitchell and Butler, with Mitchell insisting upon a campaign to organize migrant workers as a means of reviving the union (14, 17, 23, 25); see also Mitchell's attempt to write a life history of a migrant worker...

Scope and Contents Reports arrived from W. M. Tanner and others in Missouri that the WPA was laying off workers to aid planters in obtaining cotton choppers at a lower wage; see especially Tanner's affidavit on the matter (6). Reports from locals in Mississippi are especially plentiful this month. Beginning in June, a monthly listing of "Amounts Remitted by STFU Locals" appears along with the monthly financial statement; these lists provide a good picture of the strength and geographical distribution of the...

Scope and Contents Mitchell began to press upon his fellow STFU leaders a plan to secure affiliation with the AF of L. In this connection, see his memorandum to David Dubinsky, President of the ILGWU, on organizing agricultural workers (June 24), and his memorandum to the AF of L (n.d. [July, 1940]), his letters to Butler and Blaine Treadway reporting on his negotiations with AF of L officials and the minutes of the NEC meeting which decided to go ahead with Mitchell's proposal (20). Other items of special...

Scope and Contents A dispute arose between Mitchell and Butler on the question of AF of L affiliation. Mitchell wished to create a new AF of L International, with which the STFU would, in turn, affiliate; Butler wanted direct affiliation. The merits of the two proposals were debated in the correspondence throughout the month until the NEC met in special session (31). The NEC also gave considerable attention to the problems at the Delta and Providence Cooperative Farms. Another issue of equal prominence in the...

Scope and Contents

Discussion continued on the bid for AF of L affiliation; see especially the exchange between Mitchell and Butler (7, 17) and Butler's letters to the STFU locals (4, 12). The NEC sent a long letter to the Trustees of the Cooperative Farms, claiming that the recent investigation did not deal with the true grievances of union members on the farms (20)

Scope and Contents The AF of L turned down the STFU proposal for affiliation; see the letter from AF of L President William Green, explaining the decision (23). In the wake of this development, the NEC met in special session on October 13; the full minutes reveal the confusion and desperation of the STFU leaders. A major topic toward the end of the month was the activities of O.H. Whitfield, the former STFU organizer who was reported to be stirring up racial hatred in Missouri and Texas for the benefit of a...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: Consist of correspondence, reports, ledgers, legal documents, leaflets, printed material, photographs, and newspapers published by the union. These document the activities of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union from its origins through its transformations into the National Farm Labor Union in 1946 and the National Agriculture Workers Union in 1952, and through its merger with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union in 1960. The records also contain selected materials from the Socialist Party...