| Abstract:
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The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), founded in 1952,
is a union of approximately 70,000 members representing professional actors, journalists,
dancers, singers, announcers, hosts, comedians, and disc jockeys from numerous media
industries, including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, video productions,
commercials, audio books, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, internet productions,
and other digital media. The union traces its origins to the 1937 founding of the
American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) with 400 members and locals in New York
and Los Angeles. In 2012, after numerous attempts, AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild
(SAG) successfully merged to form SAG-AFTRA. This guide describes the records of AFTRA's
New York Local office from its founding through 1990. The collection consists of photographs,
memoranda, correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records, formal agreements,
recorded negotiations, constitutions and by-laws, and legal files documenting claims
and arbitrations. The materials document the union's daily operations and governance,
in addition to broader labor and social issues through the lens of entertainers and
performers, including civil rights, anti-communism investigations, and workers' rights
and protections. The collection also includes materials documenting the union's relationships
and interactions with related domestic and international guilds and federations for
performers.
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