Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection
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Abstract
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a union founded in 1972 that represents staff and faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) and CUNY Research Foundation. The Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection represents a collective oral history project, which documents the activities of the organization from its inception to 2023. Some of the interviews were recorded on sound discs and some were recorded digitally. Written transcripts are available for the interviews recorded on sound discs.
Historical Note
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a union that represents staff and faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) and CUNY Research Foundation. Founded in 1972, the PSC is a local branch (Local 2334) of the American Federation of Teachers and is also affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The union manages contract negotiations and collective bargaining agreements; enforces a grievance and arbitration process to protect the rights of staff; and provides services to its members through the PSC/CUNY Welfare fund and New York State United Teachers.
Scope and Contents
This collection represents a collective history of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) of City Univeristy of New York. It includes interviews of former faculty and staff from institutions such as Borough of Manhattan Community College, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College who answer questions about their professional careers and their involvement in the PSC when at CUNY. The interviews chronicle the organization's path to becoming unionized at CUNY in the 1970s, the establishment and activities of the union's Executive Council, Delegate Assembly, and Grievance Counselors, and recent developments at PSC up until 2023. Interviews address topics such as administration policies, working conditions and wages, hiring practices, and union officer elections. One digital, black-and-white photograph illustrates a PSC-CUNY rally in New York City.
Some of the interviews were on sound discs (CDs and minidiscs) at the time of donation and included printed transcripts of the interviews. Later accessions also include recordings and transcripts, but they were donated via flash drive.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Professional Staff Congress/CUNY were transferred to New York University in 2014. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Professional Staff Congress/City University of New York Oral History Collection; OH 061; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY in circa 2014; additional materails were donated in increments between 2014 and 2021. The accession number associated with these gifts are 1986.012 and 2018.083. An additional interview with Bob Cermele was donated by Shomial Ahmad in May 2019; the accession number associated with this gift is 2019.115. Ahmad later donated transcripts of interviews with Joan Green and Lilia Melani, as well as an audio recording of Melani's interview in September 2019; the accession number associated with this gift is 2020.001. In 2021, Ahmad donated audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Peter Jonas and Lorraine Cohen; the accession number associated with this gift is 2021.025. In 2022, Ahmad donated audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Joel Berger, Barbara Bowen, Manfred Philipp, and Belle Zeller; the accession numbers associated with these gift are 2022.051 and 2023.009. In July 2023, Ahmad donated an interview of Michael Fabricant; the accession number associated with this gift is 2023.065.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
About this Guide
Processing Information
One flash drive was forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged in Research Workspace. Further accretions have been donated as network transfers.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
