Scope and Content of Collection
The records of the Cigar Makers International Union of America (CMIUA) cover the period 1856 to 1974. The records consist of correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, financial records, convention proceedings, publications, and telegrams. Additiona types of historical materials included are pamphlets, retirement cards, constitutions, strike agreements, membership statements dues journals, and field reports.
Important subjects covered in the collection include: strikes, strike negotiations, benefits, amalgamation, per capita tax, cigar making machinery, union labels, cooperatives, insurance, and communism. Also documented are the bank failures of the 1930s, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), labor contracts, and organization of locals. Research in these subjects will be abetted by a large number of field reports submitted by agents, proceedings of CMIUA meetings, strike agreements, and the complete or partial records of over 150 locals.
Important correspondents include: A.P. Bower, R.E. Van Horn, Carl Swisher, Claude Pepper, Thomas Finn, George Googe, Manuel Garcia, R.J. Petree, Rivera Martinez, Francis Sack, Maurice Simons, Bob Perez, S.L. Devin, Mauricio Torre, Albert D'Arpa, Frank Diez, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Charles Rohler, Helen Milburger, Otto Dehn, William Green, I.M. Ornburn, George L. Berry, Frank Fenton, Mario Azpeitia, Maude Lenz, George Meany, Oliver Maxwell, Samuel Gompers, and Joseph Lewis.