Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
Creator: | Cleveland Federation of Musicians |
Title: | Cleveland Federation of Musicians Records |
Dates: | 1888-1965 |
Extent: | 13.55 linear feet (7 containers, 29 oversize volumes, and 1 oversize folder) |
Abstract: | The Cleveland Federation of Musicians was established in 1877 as the Musicians Mutual Protective Association. In 1895 the Association joined the American Federation of Musicians and became A.F.M. Local 4. African American members left to form their own local, No. 550, in 1910, but reunited with Local 4, also known as the Cleveland Federation of Musicians, in 1962. Establishment of minimum wages and protection of its members were the union's main goals. Women musicians were given equal protection after being admitted to the union in 1901. Other union activities included support of other unions, publication of the Cleveland Musician, and sponsorship of the Druid Club. The collection consists of constitutions, minutes, correspondence, financial records, wage scale directories, membership lists, material on the 1935 trial of a union member, beneficiary notices, contracts, issues of the Cleveland Musician, scrapbooks, miscellaneous material, and records of the Druid Club. |
MS Number | MS 3718 |
Location: | closed stacks |
Language: | The records are in English |
The Cleveland Federation of Musicians was established in Cleveland, Ohio as the Musicians Mutual Protective Association on December 4, 1877. In 1895, the Association joined the newly formed American Federation of Musicians and became known as A. F. M. Local No. 4. This organization split into two groups in 1910 when African American members organized their own Local No. 550; the two were reunited as Local No. 4, also known as the Cleveland Federation of Musicians, in 1962.
Changes in name and organization did not, however, alter the basic goal of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians as stated in its constitution: "to unite instrumental musicians for protection and the establishment of minimum prices to be charged by members for services, enforcement of good faith and fair dealings between members." In 1901 women were allowed to join the union, and the protection of women musicians also became an organization goal.
The Federation actively supported the formation of unions locally and nationally. It helped to form the Cleveland and American Federations of Labor and the United Trade and Labor Council in Cleveland. Through its membership in these organizations, the Cleveland Federation of Musicians helped to establish the Cleveland Citizen, the oldest labor newspaper in Ohio, and the Cleveland Musician. The Federation's support of other unions extended to forbidding its members to work in non-union hotels and restaurants, and lobbying for the eight-hour day, which the union had adopted in 1908.
The union also played an active role in the social lives of its members, establishing the Aschbroedl Club exclusively for members of Local No. 4 and the Druid Club which admitted non-musicians as members. These two social clubs survived until the mid-1920s.
The Cleveland Federation of Musicians Records, 1888-1965 and undated, consist of constitutions, minutes, correspondence, financial records, wage and scale directories, membership lists, beneficiary notices, contracts, issues of the Cleveland Musician, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous material. The collection also includes transcripts, charges, and exhibits on the 1935 trial of a union member; and minutes, correspondence, contracts, financial records, membership lists, a hall schedule book, and miscellaneous material of the Druid Club.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of organized labor and professional musicians in Cleveland, Ohio in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century. On the whole, the collection provides valuable insight into the development of American unions in a large city. The minutes and correspondence contain information concerning the disciplining of members by the union, and the union's effort to establish itself and support other unions. The minutes also concern such political issues as capital punishment, minority rights, and prohibition.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult PG 184 Cleveland Federation of Musicians Photographs; and MS 4825 Al Russ Papers.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3718 Cleveland Federation of Musicians Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians in 1977.
Processed by Roberts L. Hudson in 1978.
Series I: Constitutions 1888-1961 |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
1 | 1 | Constitutions 1888 1893 1899 | |||||||||
1 | 2 | Constitutions 1900-1903 | |||||||||
1 | 3 | Constitutions 1904-1907 | |||||||||
1 | 4 | Constitutions 1908-1911 | |||||||||
1 | 5 | Constitutions 1912-1915 | |||||||||
1 | 6 | Constitutions 1916-1920 | |||||||||
1 | 7 | Constitutions 1921-1922 | |||||||||
1 | 8 | Constitutions 1923-1924 | |||||||||
1 | 9 | Constitutions 1925-1926 | |||||||||
1 | 10 | Constitutions 1927-1928 | |||||||||
1 | 11 | Constitutions 1929-1930 | |||||||||
1 | 12 | Constitutions 1931-1933 | |||||||||
1 | 13 | Constitutions 1935-1937 | |||||||||
1 | 14 | Constitutions 1938-1961 |
Series II: Minutes 1895-1951 |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
1 | 15 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1898-1901 | |||||||||
1 | 16 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1902-1906 | |||||||||
1 | 17 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1907-1908 | |||||||||
1 | 18 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1909-1911 | |||||||||
1 | 19 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1912-1914 | |||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
2 | 1 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1915-1917 1919 | |||||||||
2 | 2 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1920-1922 | |||||||||
2 | 3 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1923-1924 | |||||||||
2 | 4 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1930 1941 | |||||||||
2 | 5 | Minutes, Board of Directors 1949-1951 | |||||||||
2 | 6 | Minutes 1902-1906 | |||||||||
2 | 7 | Minutes 1907-1908 | |||||||||
2 | 8 | Minutes 1908-1909 | |||||||||
2 | 9 | Minutes 1910-1912 | |||||||||
2 | 10 | Minutes 1913-1915 | |||||||||
2 | 11 | Minutes 1917 1920 | |||||||||
2 | 12 | Minutes 1921-1922 | |||||||||
2 | 13 | Minutes 1923-1925 | |||||||||
2 | 14 | Minutes, Widows and Orphans Society 1902-1925 | |||||||||
Folder | |||||||||||
1 | Oversize Folder 1: Convention resolutions 1895 1934 |
Series III: Correspondence 1906-1960 undated |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
2 | 15 | Correspondence 1906 1922-1929 | |||||||||
2 | 16 | Correspondence 1930-1933 | |||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
3 | 1 | Correspondence 1934-1936 | |||||||||
3 | 2 | Correspondence 1937-1960 undated |
Series IV: Financial Records 1888-1964 undated |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
3 | 3 | General account ledger 1915-1922 | |||||||||
3 | 4 | General account ledger 1915-1918 | |||||||||
3 | 5 | General account ledger 1918-1924 | |||||||||
3 | 6 | General account ledger 1923-1934 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
1 | Oversize Volume 1: General ledger 1923-1933 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
2 | Oversize Volume 2: General ledger 1945-1959 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
3 | Oversize Volume 3: General ledger 1948-1953 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
4 | Oversize Volume 4: General ledger 1954-1959 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
5 | Oversize Volume 5: Emergency fund ledger 1923-1959 | ||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
3 | 7 | Receipt ledger 1935-1936 | |||||||||
3 | 8 | Receipt ledger 1936-1937 | |||||||||
3 | 9-11 | Receipt ledger 1938 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
6 | Oversize Volume 6: Receipt book 1938-1941 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
7 | Oversize Volume 7: Receipt book 1941-1943 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
8 | Oversize Volume 8: Receipt book 1945-1946 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
9 | Oversize Volume 9: Receipt book 1946-1947 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
10 | Oversize Volume 10: Receipt book 1947-1949 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
11 | Oversize Volume 11: Receipt book 1949-1950 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
12 | Oversize Volume 12: Receipt book 1950-1951 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
13 | Oversize Volume 13: Receipt book 1951-1952 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
14 | Oversize Volume 14: Receipt book 1952-1953 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
15 | Oversize Volume 15: Receipt book 1953-1954 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
16 | Oversize Volume 16: Receipt book 1954-1955 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
17 | Oversize Volume 17: Receipt book 1955-1956 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
18 | Oversize Volume 18: Receipt book 1956-1958 | ||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
3 | 12 | Wage and scale directory 1893 1941-1948 | |||||||||
3 | 13 | Wage and scale directory 1949-1954 | |||||||||
3 | 14 | Wage and scale directory 1956-1958 | |||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
4 | 1 | Wage and scale directory 1959-1964 | |||||||||
4 | 2 | Tax information 1898 1918-1934 | |||||||||
4 | 3 | Tax information 1935-1960 undated | |||||||||
4 | 4 | Dues book 1888-1889 | |||||||||
4 | 5 | Dues book 1898-1900 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
19 | Oversize Volume 19: Dues book 1904-1910 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
20 | Oversize Volume 19: Dues book 1911-1916 | ||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
4 | 6 | Dues book 1915-1918 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
21 | Oversize Volume 21: Dues book 1917-1923 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
22 | Oversize Volume 22: Dues book 1917-1922 | ||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
4 | 7 | Dues book 1919-1921 | |||||||||
4 | 8 | Dues book 1921-1923 |
Series V: Membership 1909-1954 undated |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
4 | 9 | Membership lists 1909-1910 | |||||||||
4 | 10 | Membership lists 1927 1938-1954 undated | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
23 | Oversize Volume 23: Membership book 1904-1910 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
24 | Oversize Volume 24: Membership book 1911-1916 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
25 | Oversize Volume 25: Membership book 1917-1923 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
26 | Oversize Volume 26: Membership book 1917-1922 |
Series VI: Trial of Union Member 1935 |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
4 | 11-13 | Trial transcript 1935 | |||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
5 | 1 | Trial transcript 1935 | |||||||||
5 | 2 | Charges, appeals, and exhibits 1935 |
Series VII: Insurance dates vary |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
5 | 3 | Beneficiary notices dates vary |
Series VIII: Contracts dates vary |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
5 | 4 | Contracts, A - B dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 5 | Contracts, C dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 6 | Contracts, D - G dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 7 | Contracts, H - Me dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 8 | dates vary Mi - P dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 9 | Contracts, R - T dates vary | |||||||||
5 | 10 | Contracts, V - Z dates vary |
Series IX: Miscellaneous Material dates vary |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
5 | 11 | Miscellaneous material dates vary |
Series X: Cleveland Musician Newspaper 1928-1965 |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
5 | 12 | Cleveland Musician 1928-1930 | |||||||||
5 | 13 | Cleveland Musician 1931-1933 | |||||||||
5 | 14 | Cleveland Musician 1934-1936 | |||||||||
5 | 15 | Cleveland Musician 1937-1940 | |||||||||
5 | 16 | Cleveland Musician 1941-1944 | |||||||||
5 | 17 | Cleveland Musician 1945-1947 | |||||||||
5 | 18 | Cleveland Musician 1948-1949 | |||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
6 | 1 | Cleveland Musician 1950-1952 | |||||||||
6 | 2 | Cleveland Musician 1953-1955 | |||||||||
6 | 3 | Cleveland Musician 1956-1958 | |||||||||
6 | 4 | Cleveland Musician 1959-1961 | |||||||||
6 | 5 | Cleveland Musician 1962-1965 |
Series XI: Scrapbooks 1928-1938 undated |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
6 | 6 | Scrapbook 1937-1938 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
27 | Oversize Volume 27: Scrapbook 1928 1933 | ||||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
28 | Oversize Volume 28: Scrapbook undated |
Series XII: Druid Club Records 1914-1925 undated |
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Box | Folder | ||||||||||
7 | 1 | Constitution 1914-1919 undated | |||||||||
7 | 2-3 | Minutes 1914-1924 | |||||||||
7 | 4 | Correspondence 1917-1920 | |||||||||
7 | 5 | General account ledger 1914-1920 | |||||||||
7 | 6 | Cash book 1916-1925 | |||||||||
7 | 7 | Receipt ledger 1916-1921 | |||||||||
7 | 8 | Receipt book 1919-1920 | |||||||||
7 | 9 | Receipts 1916-1925 undated | |||||||||
7 | 10 | Dues book 1914-1916 | |||||||||
7 | 11 | Dues book 1918-1920 | |||||||||
Volume | |||||||||||
29 | Oversize Volume 29: Dues book 1920-1921 | ||||||||||
Box | Folder | ||||||||||
7 | 12 | Hall schedule 1918-1920 | |||||||||
7 | 13 | Membership lists 1922 undated | |||||||||
7 | 14 | Contracts 1914-1920 | |||||||||
7 | 15 | Miscellaneous material dates vary |