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Gilbert Jonas Papers

Call Number

WAG.062

Date

1956-1969, inclusive

Creator

Jonas, Gilbert
Jonas, Gilbert (Role: Donor)

Extent

2 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Gilbert Jonas Company, a public relations firm founded in 1962, specialized in publicity work for trade unions, in particular public employees in New York City and New York state. The firm's chief client, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, under the leadership of Jerry Wurf, hired the company to publicize organizing campaigns among New York City welfare workers and New York State public employees (including mental health care workers and police and corrections officers). The collection includes publicity materials produced by the firm, background files and clipping files, dating mostly from the 1960s.

Historical/Biographical Note

The collection includes a variety of materials related to the public relations work of the Gilbert Jonas Company for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and in particular for AFSCME District Council 37 (New York City public employees), and District Council 50 (New York State public employees). Jonas had a long career in the public relations field in New York City. Born in 1930, he began work in public relations in 1955. He served in the Peace Corps in 1961, and set up the Corps' Near Eastern Division (Jonas held a Bachelor's Degree in Near Eastern Studies). He started his own public relations firm shortly after returning from the Peace Corps and AFSCME District Council 37 was among his first clients. The focus of Jonas's public relations work was on civil rights, human rights, and labor unions. Among Jonas's other clients were the NAACP, with whom he worked for 25 years, and A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Pullman Car Porters.

Jonas's association with AFSCME grew out of his relationship with Jerry Wurf, the DC 37 executive director who went on to serve as president of the AFSCME international union from 1964 to 1981. Jonas knew Wurf during Wurf's student days at New York University, a time when Jonas was involved in the New York City Democratic Party reform movement and became deeply interested in social and labor issues.

Jonas would later describe Wurf as well-read, intellectual, politically sophisticated - "a genius." In 1962, for a union leader like Wurf to engage a professional public relations agency was unusual. At the time, there was very little coverage of union activities in the mainstream press outside of strike actions. There were few labor journalists as such, and Wurf and Jonas worked together to develop the sympathetic interest of young reporters. Jonas credits Wurf with advancing the political influence of unions and developing the view of union membership as a political constituency. Wurf was among the first union leaders to succeed in getting elected officials to appear at union rallies.

In their original agreement, Jonas's firm was to work for DC 37 an average of two days per week. The firm, which then consisted of Jonas himself, an associate and a secretary, was responsible for preparing and placing press releases and press materials for New York City local mass media outlets and contacting and following up on reporters and others in the media. DC 37 was to provide mimeographing, typing, and messenger service and initially paid Jonas's firm $650 a month, plus expenses. Jonas worked for the Council beginning in early 1962 and continuing into 1963 with much of his effort concentrated on New York City Welfare Department workers. He was called back to work with the Council by Wurf, then president of AFSCME, during the prolonged 1965 welfare workers' strike.

Wurf pulled Jonas back into service again in 1968, to assist with developments within AFSCME District Council 50. Jerry Wurf and his brother Al, executive director of DC 50, wanted to challenge the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), regarded by AFL-CIO affiliates as a "company union." Eventually, DC 50 shared some of what had been the CSEA's jurisdiction, and represented state police, corrections officers and mental health workers. By 1969, DC 50 reached the peak of its membership - between 15,000 and 18,000 members.

Jonas had increased his staff to include five people by 1968 and all of them assisted in his work for the Council. Although Wurf had built up a good in-house research and public relations component for the AFSCME international, based in part on his earlier experience with Jonas, Jonas found that promoting the union's position on a state level was much more difficult than working city-wide. Few local papers outside of New York City were interested in covering unions at all.

The collection will be of value to researchers interested in the history of collective bargaining by state, municipal employees in general, welfare and mental health workers, and New York State and New York City employees during the 1960s. On a broader level, the collection will is relevant to the study of how labor unions' apprroach to the area of public relations and to the history of media coverage of labor union activities.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically by topic in each series.

The files are grouped into two series:

Missing Title

  1. I, General Files, 1956-1969
  2. II, Clipping Files, 1962-1969

Scope and Content Note

Series I: General Files, 1956-1969, contains publicity (in the form of clippings and press releases) and reports and correspondence regarding publicity campaigns created by the Gilbert Jonas Company for AFSCME, DC 37 and DC 50, as well as Welfare Local 371 (later the Social Service Employees Union). Also included is publicity material and television interview transcripts regarding AFSCME president Jerry Wurf and campaign materials for the Congressional campaign of James Scheuer.

Series II: Clipping Files, 1962-1969, contains clippings on public employees and AFSCME DC 37 and DC 50, the Hospital Aides' strike of 1968 from various print news outlets inside and outside New York City, and the Welfare Workers and their strike in 1965.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by Gilbert Jonas was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Gilbert Jonas, 1987. The accession number associated with this gift is 1987.018.

Collection processed by

Robert Kenselaar, 1989, and Craig Savino, 2006

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:50:08 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from Jonas, Gilbert.doc

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012