Eleanore Collins Papers
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Abstract
Eleanore Collins (d. 1994) had a passionate concern for labor education, women's rights, and white-collar organizing. As a clerk with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), she joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1150, and by the early 1950s she became a steward. In the CWA, Collins was active in organizing, upgrading clerical titles, and boosting the status and pay for female workers. She served as a union board member, convention delegate, education director, and finally president of the CWA, Local 1153 from 1981 to 1984. The collection includes correspondence, election materials, minutes, arbitration awards, clippings, and reports that reflect both Collins's duties as a CWA local officer and her personal political and community interests.
Historical/Biographical Note
Eleanore Collins (d. 1994) was born in the Bronx and raised in Elmsford, NY. She graduated from Mount St. Vincent College and later earned a master's degree in industrial labor relations from Pace University. After working briefly for Reader's Digest and then as a social worker, she took a job as a clerk for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in Manhattan on the eve of World War II. In the early 1950s, she joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1150. In 1954, Collins's clerical job was transferred to White Plains, NY. There she became a steward and was active in organizing and upgrading clerical titles. Thanks in large part to her efforts, AT&T created the new title of Engineering Associate, representing a substantial boost in status and pay for a female-dominated classification.
Collins was elected to Local 1150's Executive Board and soon became known for her passionate concern for labor education, women's rights, and white-collar organizing. However, on two occasions, during a bitterly contested Local 1150 election and during the equally rancorous telephone strike, she came into conflict with members of her own and other CWA locals. Controversy over disputed election results in CWA Local 1150's 1958-1959 election occasioned a disciplinary hearing against Eleanore Collins in 1960. In 1971, Collins supported a move by fellow co-workers to return to work at a time when the validity of the picket lines was in question. Other Local members accused Collins of defying union directives. In both cases, charges against Collins were later dismissed.
In 1975, Collins joined with a group of White Plains members who broke away from Local 1150 to form a new CWA local, Local 1153. She went on to serve Local 1153 as a board member, convention delegate, education director, and finally as president from 1981 to 1984.
In the later years of her career, Collins's concern with union activities and efforts to aid in worker security was inclined toward securing pensions and health benefits for employees and retirees. This concern extended to all those in need of health care, with an emphasis on senior citizens.
Collins died in St. Louis, MO in June 1994.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains correspondence, election materials, minutes, arbitration awards, clippings, and reports that reflect both Collins's duties as a CWA local officer and her personal political and community interests. Ranging from the political to the personal, these papers offer alternative insights into union activities than the insights offered in the official documentation of the CWA.
Collins's union activities with CWA, Local 1150 (and later Local 1153) document important work-related issues as well as broader issues of social policy. For example, the cases of co-workers for whom Collins served as a steward highlight issues of gender and racial discrimination, as well as sexual harassment. In addition, the papers record the shifts in the nature of the female workforce in the telephone industry, which experienced a post-World War II boom due to technological advances and structural changes.
A significant amount of material in the collection deals with the impact of AT&T's divestiture during the mid-1980s. Documents concerning divestiture represent the efforts and positions of the CWA at the international as well as the local level. Several files offer statistical analysis on the impact of divestiture in terms of job loss and other issues of concern to the union.
A major aspect of Collins's work was her involvement with labor education. She taught at local community colleges, as well as in union-sponsored seminars, and her work is documented through course descriptions, syllabi, lecture notes, stewards' training materials, and lesson plans.
Collins was an active participant in many of the CWA's local elections. Information concerning Collins's campaigns, as well as those of her opponents, is well represented in the collection. The types of election materials present, which mostly date from 1978 to 1988, include handbills, flyers, biographies of the candidates, opposing literature, petitions, vote tallies, and special election editions of newsletters.
The collection also documents the Local 1150 election in 1958-1959 and the telephone strike of 1971. Included in the documentation of the 1958-1959 election debate is the trial transcript. Background material detailing the charges brought against Collins and the disputed electoral results constitute one folder. Collins's handwritten notes during the trial on her stance on the 1971 CWA strike against AT&T, as well as the other materials used for her defense, highlight the the debate over local versus national authority in regards to the picket lines.
An undated file marked "Writings" contains typescript essays written by Collins on subjects such as women's employment in the White Plains unit of ATT, job losses in White Plains, and the telephone strike of 1971 in the New York area.
Collins's interest in securing workers' pensions and health benefits, especially for senior citizens, is reflected in her involvement with the Bronx Community Board 12's Health and Hospital Committee and the Westchester Health Action Committee. The collection also documents Collins's service with the White House Conference on Balanced National Growth and Economic Development in 1978.
The collection includes thirteen black-and-white photographs, all group shots or portraits of Collins and other unidentified individuals. There is also a postcard depicting the business district of Valhalla, New York and an undated delegate ribbon with a CWA pin attached to it.
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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 Eleanore Collins 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; Eleanore Collins Papers; WAG 089; Box number; Folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Eleanore Collins donated 80 colors slides in December 1992 and one linear foot of her papers in 1993. After her death in 1994, more materials were donated by Mr. and Mrs. James Kennedy, Eleanore Collins's niece and her husband. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1993.001, 1993.007, and NPA 2000.258.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs separated from this collection during processing were established as a separate collection, the Eleanore Collins Photographs (PHOTOS 152). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Eleanore Collins Papers (WAG 089).
In 2014, 80 color slides were separated from the Communications Workers of American Photographs and Videos (PHOTOS 086) and reincorporated into the Eleanore Collins Papers (WAG 089).
