International Association of Siderographers, 1899-1987

Documents in this series include constitution and by-laws, booklets, awards, certificates, bulletins, correspondence, membership forms, and records generated during the biennial conventions of the association. Financial records consist of several ledgers documenting payment of membership dues, payments into and out of the unemployment benefit fund, and other expenditures on various union activities. Documents generated by the National Association between 1899 and 1915 prior to the organization of the Ottawa, Canada local are included. Much of this series reflects the original organization of the collection, and processing consisted of minor chronological sorting and arrangement under major headings.

The records of the biennial conventions of the Association comprise a large portion of this series. Reports of union officers, banquet programs, and meeting minutes are included under this heading. The records of an election of national officers held in 1906 are also included in this series, and this election appears to have been a precursor of the convention proceedings. Of note in this portion of the series are the records of the Fourth Biennial Convention held in 1913, which document the organization of the siderographers' unemployment benefit fund.

Convention planning is an important topic of discussion in the correspondence in this series. Another majot topic is the wage scales paid to siderographers at various places where they were employed. The behavior of individual members of the union and breaches of union work rules by non-members are alos important subjects. Later correspondence contains information relating to technological advanes that eliminated the need for many siderographers amd documents the union's efforts to protect its membership and survive as an organization.

The association had a relatively complex process for initiating members which included apprentice, junior, and recognized steps. Different forms were used for each of the membership steps, and completed copies of these forms comprise the bulk of the membership records in this series. Also included are several bound ledgers that record lists of members, changes in membership status, and other related information. The ceremonies by which members were initiated were called obligations and consisted of a verbal charge read by the president or other officer of the association to the new member. These ceremonies were modified through time, and copies documenting the procedures used between 1899 and 1921 are present.

The history of the union became a topic of concern for members during the planning for the fiftieth anniversary banquet, held at the Twenty-First Biennial Convention in New York City in 1949. Research materials and notes that were used to assemble a summary history for the banquet program comprise a small part of this series. Also in this series is a small bound journal that an unidentified member used to record information of interest to the association, particularly that relating to members employed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. In addition to the history notes, the series included newpaper clippings that report on the union itself or topics of interest to the union's membership.

The series is arranged alphabetically under major headings and chronologically within these headings.