Guide to the New York Metro Area Postal Union Photographs PHOTOS 011
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
10th Floor
New York, NY 10012
(212) 998-2630
tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Collection processed by Hui-Min Tsen. Edited by Nicole Greenhouse for compliance with DACS and Tamiment Required Elements for Archival Description, 2013
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on August 30, 2018
English using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Descriptive Summary
| Creator: | New York Metro Area Postal Union |
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| Title: | New York Metro Area Postal Union Photographs |
| Dates [inclusive]: | circa 1955-1981 |
| Abstract: | This collection contains the photographs of the New York Metro Area Postal Union, the New York City local branch of the American Postal Workers Union. The collection contains circa 2500 images of individuals, events, strikes, committee meetings, and other proceedings that document the history of the local, the bulk are from the 1950s to 1980. |
| Quantity: | 5 Linear Feet in three record cartons, one manuscript box, and one oversize flat box. |
| Language: | Materials are in English. |
| Call Phrase: | PHOTOS 011 |
Historical/Biographical Note
The New York Metro Area Postal Union (American Postal Workers Union, Local 10) represents clerks, motor vehicle staff, maintenance workers and mail-handlers in the greater New York City area. (Some mail-handlers, however, are represented by other unions.) By the 1980s the union enrolled more than 25,000 members. The local originated as Local 10 of the National Federation of Post Office Clerks. Officers and most of the members of this local seceded in 1958 to become the Postal Union of Manhattan-Bronx Clerks (which in 1960 changed its name to the Manhattan-Bronx Postal Union), with the aim of uniting many postal craft workers into one industrial union. The union became part of the newly-created American Postal Workers Union in 1971, after taking a leading role in the hard-fought national strike of postal workers in 1970. Under the presidencies of Moe Biller and Josie MacMillan from the 1958 through the 1980s, the local union won significant gains for its members. Both the membership and the leadership became more diverse as post office jobs opened up to minorities and women as a result of civil rights initiatives in the 1960s. In 1973 the union changed its name to the New York Metro Area Postal Union, the new name reflecting the inclusion of the New York Bulk and Foreign Mail Center and the North Jersey Facility in the local's bargaining unit.
Scope and Content Note
This collection of approximately 2500 photographs (many are copy prints for the Union's publication, The Union Mail) documents the concerns of the New York Metro Area Postal Union's membership over a twenty-five year period (1955-1981). Images of rallies and demonstrations show the issues around which the union organized and the changing language for those demands. Of special interest are the shots of the union's delegation leaving for the 1963 March on Washington. In addition, the collection also includes photoprints of individuals, bargaining sessions, and national conventions. There are some images of union-sponsored social groups, such as the chess club and bowling team. The union's lobbying is reflected in images of local and national union leadership with various politicians including John F. Kennedy, Robert F. ("Bobby") Kennedy, Kenneth Keating, and Congressman John Lindsay. The collection also contains a significant number of negatives.
The original folder titles for the photographs as received from the union have largely been retained, but the information in them, and on the backs of many of the photographs as well, is not always accurate.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into twenty-eight series.
Series I: Individuals
Series II: Group Portraits with Union Officials
Series III: Congressional Visits
Series IV: Meetings
Series V: Stewards
Series VI: Group Portraits of Union Officials at Events
Series VII: House/Senate Members Visit the Union
Series VIII: Membership Meetings
Series IX: Delegates
Series X: Installation of Officers
Series XI: Conventions/Conferences
Series XII: Boards/Committees/Councils
Series XIII: Women's Auxiliary
Series XIV: Demonstrations/Rallies
Series XV: Signs/Billboards
Series XVI: Elections
Series XVII: Contracts
Series XVIII: Dinners/Parties
Series XIX: Award Ceremonies
Series XX: Classes/Seminars
Series XXI: Workplaces
Series XXII: Union Office Staff
Series XXIII: The Union Mail
Series XXIV: Sports/Recreation
Subseries A: Baseball
Subseries B: Softball
Subseries C: Basketball
Subseries D: Bowling
Subseries E: Chess
Subseries F: Handball
Subseries G: Miscellaneous
Series XXV: National Federation of Postal Clerks, Local 10 (New York)
Series XXVI: Miscellaneous
Series XXVII: Addendum
Series XXVIII: Negatives
Access Points
Subject Names
- Biller, Moe, 1915-2003
- MacMillan, Josie
Document Type
- Photographs.
Subject Organizations
- Postal Union of Manhattan-Bronx Clerks
- Manhattan-Bronx Postal Union
- National Federation of Post Office Clerks. Local 10 (New York, N.Y.)
- United States Postal Service
Subject Topics
- Postal Strike, U.S., 1970.
- Postal service -x Employees -x Labor unions -- United States.
- Postal service -- Employees -- Labor unions
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection, created by the New York Metro Area Postal Union, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; New York Metro Area Postal Union Photographs; PHOTOS.011; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
donated by Moe Biller on behalf of the New York Metro Area Postal Union in 1980 and separated from the New York Metro Area Postal Union Records (WAG 103). The accession numbers related to this collection are 1970.020 and NPA.1996.003.
Processing Information note
The collection was loosely organized and documented when it was received. In 1999, the collection was arranged into series and subseries. In 2013, material was physically rearranged to reflect the intellectual arrangement in the finding aid. Series 27 and 28 have not been arranged or described.
Container List
| Box 1 |
Series I: Individuals
Scope and Content NoteNot all of the images in this series are formal portraits; many are them are photographs in which the named person is the only person in the photograph,or where most of the pictures focus on the person named.
ArrangementArranged alphabetically. |
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| Box 1 |
Series II: Group Portraits with Union Officials
ArrangementArranged alphabetically. |
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| Box 1 |
Series III: Congressional Visits
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| Box 1 |
Series IV: Meetings
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series V: Stewards
Scope and Content NoteMost of the captions for the photographs include the postal station where the steward worked.
ArrangementArranged alphabetically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series VI: Group Portraits of Union Officials at Events
ArrangementArranged alphabetically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series VII: House/Senate Members Visit the Union
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| Box 2 |
Series VIII: Membership Meetings
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series IX: Delegates
ArrangementArranged alphabetically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series X: Installation of Officers
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series XI: Conventions/Conferences
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series XII: Boards/Committees/Councils
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series XIII: Women's Auxiliary
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 2 |
Series XIV: Demonstrations/Rallies
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XV: Signs/Billboards
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XVI: Elections
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XVII: Contracts
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| Box 3 |
Series XVIII: Dinners/Parties
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XIX: Award Ceremonies
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XX: Classes/Seminars
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XXI: Workplaces
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XXII: Union Office Staff
ArrangementArranged chronologically. |
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| Box 3 |
Series XXIII: The Union Mail
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| Box 3 |
Series XXIV: Sports/Recreation
ArrangementArranged by sport and then chronologically. |
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Subseries A: Baseball
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Subseries B: Softball
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Subseries C: Basketball
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Subseries D: Bowling
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Subseries E: Chess
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Subseries F: Handball
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Subseries G: Miscellaneous
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| Box 3 |
Series XXV: National Federation of Postal Clerks--Local 10 (New York)
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| Box 3 |
Series XXVI: Miscellaneous
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| Box 3 |
Box 4 |
Series XXVII: 1996 Accession
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| Box 4 |
Box 5 |
Series XXVIII: Negatives
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