LOC publishes trove of seminal AFL documents and photos

“Though (the) headquarters of our organization are located at Washington, D.C…my home is in New York City. Washingtonians are disenfranchised. I have no desire to expatriate myself…” That’s American Federation of Labor president Sam Gompers, writing to then-New York State Governor Theodore Roosevelt on August 8, 1899. The ink-blot stained letter is one of the 172,300 items in the American Federation of Labor Records collection just published online by the Library of Congress. The collection includes over 40 years of records from the American Federation of Labor (AFL), spans the years 1883-1925 and includes the correspondence of AFL presidents Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) and William Green (1870-1952), as well as other officials. Prominent names include Susan B. Anthony, Grover Cleveland, John L. Lewis, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. The collection is a treasure trove of source documents covering everything from the minutia of forming local unions to the AFL's political principles, as well as major events like the anthracite coal strikes of 1897 and 1902. The collection also includes the American Federationist, the AFL's magazine.
- David Fernandez-Barrial, AFSCME 2910; the employees of the Library of Congress are represented by AFSCME Locals 2477 and 2910 and IFPTE Local 75.

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