Scope and Content Note

The Minutes of the Council, 1954-1965 are generally rich in supporting documents. Items routinely or frequently appended to the minutes, include reports of ad hoc and standing committees; communications from Hollywood and other branches, or from outside the Guild; lists of newly approved signatories to Guild contracts; and ballots and referenda. Annual attendance charts for the New York Council accompany minutes for the years 1963-64 and 1964-65 and are placed at the beginning of these years.

Election results are generally appended to the minutes of either the last or the first meeting of each administrative year or are reported in the text of the minutes. Researchers should note that the minutes are organized chronologically according to electoral or administrative year. From 1954 until 1958 or 1959 (a gap in the records makes it difficult to ascertain the exact date) administrative years conformed with the calendar year; annual elections took place in November or December, and each administration began when newly elected or reelected members of the Council assumed their duties at the first meeting after January 1. After 1957, a shift in the chronological organization of the minutes reflects a change in the Council's electoral or administrative year. Elections were held in October or November, and with a few exceptions, each new administration began in November.

The Communications, 1955-1960 consist of a variety of materials, generally the same type of supporting documents which are attached to the minutes. Included are referenda, copies of resolutions, excerpts from Council minutes, ballots, announcements of actions of the Council, announcements of meetings (often with agenda attached), letters to and from the National Board in Los Angeles, letters to and from signatories of Guild Contracts, "unfair lists," and pay scales. Although the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Communications files function chiefly as secondary information supporting or in some cases, duplicating that found in the minutes, the Communications for 1958 and 1959 furnish valuable information about the New York Branch for these years and thus offset a 1958-59 gap in the minutes.

Originally filed in reverse chronological order (most recent records first), the Communications have been rearranged so that they now correspond with the chronological order of the minutes. The order is "interrupted" only when supporting or follow-up materials, such as copies of resolutions, referenda and ballot results, or replies to communications, have been appended to a particular letter or announcement.

The Resolutions, 1954-1959 are excerpted or copied resolutions from the Council Minutes. As with the Communications files for 1958 and 1959, the Resolutions for these years help to offset the corresponding gap in the minutes.