The Lorain Ohio, City Federation of Labor (f. 1917), was the central labor body of the American Federation of Labor in Lorain, Ohio, prior to its merger with the Elyria AFL and the Lorain County CIO. The federation was founded as Lorain County Central Labor in 1917. Al Shibley served as Secretary-Treasurer from 1932 to 1953 and was head of the committee to merge the organizations from 1957 to 1961. Nationally, the AFL was officially founded in 1886 after being organized in 1881. The AFL expelled the CIO in 1936 and reunited with them in 1955. The Ohio AFL-CIO was created in 1958. A debate on whether to have separate councils in Lorain and Elyria under a joint county council or to form a single entity delayed unification in Lorain County until 1961. Separate councils were rejected and the Lorain City Federation of Labor merged with the Elyria Central Labor Union (AFL) and the Lorain County CIO Council to form the Lorain County AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. The three founding organizations were then dissolved.
The Lorain City Federation of Labor Scrapbook, 1937-1957, consists of one scrapbook that contains newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, and a directory.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of organized labor and trade unions in Lorain, Ohio, in the mid-twentieth century. The newspaper clippings document union activities for bartenders, fishermen, retail clerks, shipbuilders, truck drivers, mechanics, bus drivers, electricians, stone cutters, stone masons, bricklayers, carpenters, painters, plumbers, steam fitters, metal workers, laborers, and other trades. The clippings also document political activities of Lorain unions and the AFL-CIO, efforts to end intra-union strife between the AFL and CIO unions, and internal business of the Lorain City Federation of Labor. The scrapbook also documents social activities of the federation and its member unions.
The collection has been retained in original order and is maintained in two folders.
The researcher should also consult MS 4168 Lorain City Federation of Labor Records.
Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 2014.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5186 Lorain City Federation of Labor Scrapbook, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Gloria Shibley in 1983.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.