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Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers A&M 1698

Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers A&M 1698


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West Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History Center

Repository
West Virginia and Regional History Center
Identification
A&M 1698
Title
Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers 1908-1961
URL:
https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/202800
Quantity
6.42 Linear Feet, 6 ft. 5 in. (13 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 document case, 3 in.; 1 small flat storage box, 3 in.; 1 large flat storage box, 3 in.; 1 unboxed scrapbook, 3 in.)
Creator
Bittner, Van A. (Van Amberg), 1885-1949
Location
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Language
English
Abstract
UMWA international representative and organizer, member of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, director of the CIO Organizing Committee, and vice-chairman of the CIO Political Action Committee Correspondence, legal papers, diaries, clippings, and other papers relate to Bittner's early career in the western Pennsylvania coal fields; his presidency of District 5, UMWA, 1911-1916; and his organizational activities in southeastern Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, northern West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 1916-1928. Subjects include labor strife and strikes in West Virginia, 1912-1913, 1924-1928, Alabama, 1920-1921, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 1911, and Oklahoma and Kansas, 1922; UMWA intra-union affairs; relief for striking miners; Kansas Industrial Court; Workers Communist Party; Red International of Labor Unions; American Association for Labor Legislation; National League of People's McAdoo Clubs; labor trouble in Montana, 1920; the railway assigned coal car problem; and Bittner's activities on various state and national labor boards and committees. There are photographs of mining towns, camps, and tent colonies, labor parades, conventions, demonstrations, and strikes; portraits of labor leaders; and pictures of the Irwin, Pennsylvania coalfield strike of 1911, the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, and the northern West Virginia strikes of 1924-1926. Frank Farrington, William Green, Frank J. Hayes, John L. Lewis, John Mitchell, Philip Murray, and John P. White are included among the correspondents. A detailed listing of the correspondence in boxes 1-7 is available upon request.

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Van Amberg Bittner (1885-1949), Labor Leader, Papers, A&M 1698, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Separated Material

6 photos separated to A&M 4168, Panoramic Photos Collection:

District 17 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Golden Jubilee Convention, Columbus, OH, 1940 January 23-1940 February 01; 1940 January-February

5th Constitutional Convention, Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), Boston, MA.; 1942 November 09

Members Policy Committee, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Hollenden Hotel, Cleveland, OH; 1922 August 07

6th Annual Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) Convention, Bellevue Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, PA; 1943 November 01

1st Constitutional Convention Banquet, United Steelworkers of America, Public Auditorium, Cleveland, OH; 1942 May 20

2nd Constitutional Convention, United Steelworkers of America, Cleveland, OH, 1944 May 09-1944 May 13; 1944 May

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • Alabama
  • American Association for Labor Legislation
  • Bittner, Van A. (Van Amberg), 1885-1949
  • Coal mining - Labor organization.
  • Coal mining - camps and company towns.
  • Coal mining -- Strikes
  • Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
  • Diaries and journals.
  • Farrington, Frank.
  • Green, William.
  • Hayes, Frank J.
  • Kansas
  • Kansas Industrial Court
  • Kentucky
  • Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn), 1880-1969
  • Mitchell, John.
  • Montana
  • Murray, Philip, 1886-1952
  • National League of People's McAdoo Clubs
  • Oklahoma
  • Red International of Labor Unions
  • Steel Workers Organizing Committee (U.S.)
  • Tennessee
  • United Mine Workers of America
  • United Mine Workers of America. District 5
  • White, John P. (John Phillip), 1870-1934
  • Workers (Communist) Party of America

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

  • Bittner, Van A. (Van Amberg), 1885-1949
  • Farrington, Frank.
  • Green, William.
  • Hayes, Frank J.
  • Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn), 1880-1969
  • Mitchell, John.
  • Murray, Philip, 1886-1952
  • White, John P. (John Phillip), 1870-1934
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Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • Alabama
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Montana
  • Oklahoma
  • Tennessee
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Container List

Series 1. Correspondence (Boxes 1-7)
Mixed Materials Box: 1 Mixed Materials Box: 2 Mixed Materials Box: 3 Mixed Materials Box: 4 Mixed Materials Box: 5 Mixed Materials Box: 6 Mixed Materials Box: 7 1908-1950
  • Mixed Materials Box: 1
    Correspondence
    1908-1920 July
  • Mixed Materials Box: 2
    Correspondence
    1920 August - 1920 November
  • Mixed Materials Box: 3
    Correspondence
    1920 November 11 - 1920 December 20
  • Mixed Materials Box: 4
    Correspondence
    1920 December 21 - 1921 February 10
  • Mixed Materials Box: 5
    Correspondence
    1921 February 11 - 1921 March 20
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6
    Correspondence
    1921 March 21 - 1922 December
  • Mixed Materials Box: 7
    Correspondence
    1923 January - 1950
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Series 2. Legal Papers, Speeches, and Programs (Box 8)
Mixed Materials Box: 8 1920-1922
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Series 3. Personal Papers (Box 9)
Mixed Materials Box: 9 1909-1947
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Series 4. Printed Material (Boxes 10 & 11, 12)
Mixed Materials Box: 10 Mixed Materials Box: 11 Mixed Materials Box: 12 1907-1961
  • Mixed Materials Box: 10
    Printed material, clippings, etc
    1907-1961
  • Mixed Materials Box: 11
    Printed material, clippings, etc
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 12
    Publications
    undated
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Series 5. Scrapbooks (Boxes 11A-11B, 13)
Mixed Materials Box: 11A Mixed Materials Box: 11B Mixed Materials Box: 13 undated
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