Philip Murray

An inventory of the Philip Murray Papers at The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives

Mailing Address: The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. 20064

Telephone: 202-319-5065

Email: archives@mail.lib.cua.edu

URL: http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/index.html

Biographical Note

Philip Murray was one of the most important American labor leaders of the twentieth century. As president of the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC), the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), he played a pivotal role in the creation of industrial unions as well as the utilization of federal government support in the growth of unions in the United States.

Philip Murray (May 25, 1886-November 9, 1952) was born in Blantyre, Scotland, on May 25, 1886. His father, a devout Catholic, immigrated from Ireland to Scotland prior to Phil's birth. The eldest of thirteen children, Phil began working in the mines at age 10 and immigrated to the United States with his father, also a miner, in 1902. Murray's long career as a union official began soon after entering the mines in the United States. In 1905 he was elected president of his United Mine Workers of America Union (UMWA) local in Horning, Pennsylvania. In 1912 Murray was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the executive board of the UMWA and in 1916 he became president of UMWA District #5 (western Pennsylvania). Murray's advances in the UMWA and early career as a labor leader were closely connected with the rise of John L. Lewis. Murray supported Lewis's rise to vice-president in 1917 and president in 1920. Soon after gaining the presidency Lewis appointed Murray, still just 33 years old, as vice-president of the UMWA. Murray remained Lewis's faithful and able supporter until the two split in 1940.

Murray was an early and ardent supporter of government involvement in labor relations. Murray, a lifelong Catholic, supported cooperative industrial relations plans based on the guild system advanced by Monsignor John A. Ryan. These industrial union plans were advocated by Catholic teachings as expressed in the 1891 papal encyclical Rerum Novarum (and reaffirmed in 1931 by the Vatican in Quadregisimo Anno). During World War I Murray served on the National Bituminous Coal Production Committee and on the Pennsylvania Regional War Labor Board. Both of these agencies, composed of labor, management, and government representatives, sought to limit labor conflict through cooperation. After WWI ended, however, Republican administrations and business leaders had little interest in encouraging collective bargaining through cooperative tripartite organizations. Throughout the 1920s Murray witnessed the erosion of the UMWA membership as the mining industry became increasingly nonunion.

By the mid-1930s the fortunes of the UMWA improved. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal passed a number of bills, most importantly the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) in 1935, which provided federal government support for collective bargaining. UMWA President John Lewis, with Murray's assistance, formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1935. Murray was made a vice-president in the CIO and chairmen of the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC), one of the CIO's most important industrial targets. To the surprise of many, SWOC gained a contract with the stridently anti-union United States Steel in 1937. Murray then led an unsuccessful and conflict-ridden strike against most of the remaining steel companies (usually referred to as "Little Steel") in the middle of 1937. Picket line violence left more than a dozen strikers dead.

Murray succeeded Lewis as president of the renamed Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1940. The long alliance between Murray and Lewis ended soon after Lewis voluntarily left the CIO presidency in 1940. There were many personal differences between Murray and Lewis, but there were also policy issues that separated the two. Most importantly, Lewis distrusted federal government involvement in labor relations while Murray vigorously supported it. Murray's support of federal government involvement proved advantageous during World War II. Through the help of the federal government the Little Steel companies finally signed contracts, as did other important non-union employers in CIO organized industries: the Ford Motor Company signed a contract with the United Automobile Workers Union, for example. Murray introduced his own plan for permanent industrial union councils that would codify and make permanent the tripartite organizations, like the National War Labor Board, established during World War II after the war ended. But the permanent industrial councils he sought never materialized.

After World War II ended Murray continued as the president of both the CIO and the United Steelworkers Union of America (USWA). (The Steelworkers Organizing Committee was renamed the USWA to indicate its position as a national union in 1942.) The years following WWII were difficult for him. Employer opposition to CIO advances led Congress to pass, over President Truman's veto, the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. As the president of the CIO Murray supported the purging of 11 unions from the CIO under charges that they were communist dominated in 1949 and 1950. The USWA president led successful national steel strikes in 1946 and 1949, but a difficult 1952 strike tested the aging labor leader. Murray enlisted the support of the federal government, through the Wage Stabilization Board and the personal involvement of President Truman, during the trying steel industry negotiations. Although the USWA gained a satisfactory contract, it came with significant costs. Soon after Democratic Party candidate Adlai Stevenson lost to Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. More than any other national CIO labor leader, Murray had encouraged and relied on government involvement in labor relations. But when Eisenhower was elected president in 1952, giving Republicans control of the presidency for the first time in twenty years, Murray knew that federal government support of collective bargaining had ended. Murray, however, did not live to see the Eisenhower presidency. On November 9, 1952, within a week of the presidential election, Philip Murray died at the age of 66.

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Scope and Contents

The Philip Murray Papers are comprised of materials created between the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organizations in 1935 and Philip Murray's death in late 1952. The collection does not include any materials related to his positions in the United Mine Workers of America. Likewise, the original records from Murray's position as the chair of the Steelworkers Organizing Committee from 1936-1942 are also absent from the collection. His role as both the president of the renamed Congress of Industrial Organizations and the United Steelworkers of America are documented in the collection. The collection is primarily correspondence, but also includes a large run of scrapbooks and clippings, speeches, convention materials (such as proceedings), press releases, pamphlets, and photos. The original manuscript materials date from 1942 to 1952. The scrapbooks cover a larger portion of time, 1936-1952. The collection also includes a large amount of terse routine intra office communications sent by Murray directing staff to address a particular concern or issue or to respond to a specific letter. Historians have been disappointed with the dearth of materials relating to some important CIO subjects, such as the purging of communist influenced unions in 1949-1950. But the day-to-day functioning of Philip Murray's offices, particularly as it relates to his position as President of the USWA, is evident in the collection. Researchers will find materials related to important research topics. For example, the USWA southern districts (Districts #35 and #36), the Noel Beddow correspondence, and the Organizing (South) files all shed light on organizing workers in the south. The increased role of the federal government in labor relations during World War II, for instance, is documented in the National War Labor Board files. Other important topics, such as organizing, collective bargaining, and political action, are documented throughout the Murray Papers.

The Philip Murray Papers are divided into five series: (1) United Steelworkers of America, (2) Congress of Industrial Organizations, (3) General Correspondence, (4) Scrapbooks, and (5) Photos.

The United Steelworkers of America Series is comprised of correspondence created in Murray's role as the president of the USWA. The 42.5 linear feet includes correspondence related to the day-to-day functioning of the USWA. Included prominently are contract negotiations, strikes, contract adherence conflicts, internal communications between the various levels of the USWA bureaucracy (such as the districts and departments), government agencies, politicians and the public. The USWA Series is comprised of five subseries. Subseries A, the Districts Subseries, contains correspondence between the districts and the president. The Office Files Subseries (B) houses correspondence between Murray and the various USWA departments, officers, staff, and steel companies that bargained with the union. Subseries C, The Negotiations and Strikes Subseries, maintains the materials related to the national steel negotiations and strikes that occurred in 1946, 1949, and 1952. The Government Agencies Subseries (D) includes correspondence with federal government agencies, such as the National War Labor Board. Finally, the Miscellaneous Subseries (E) includes a small portion of correspondence primarily from people outside the USWA organization, but somehow related to the USWA.

The Congress of Industrial Organizations Series is comprised of 22 linear feet of correspondence related to Murray's role as president of the CIO. It is divided into three subseries. The first subseries, National Unions, includes correspondence with the national unions. The second subseries, Regions, houses correspondence with the different regions. These materials are organized by state. The third subseries, Office Files, includes materials from the various CIO committees and departments.

The General Correspondence Series includes 20.5 linear feet of materials that are related to Philip Murray's position as a national labor leader, but cannot be directly linked to his role specifically as the president of the CIO or the USWA. This includes letters from the public and politicians, political organizations, speaking engagement requests, and public non-profit organizations.

The Scrapbooks Series is comprised of 99 scrapbooks that include clippings from a national assortment of newspapers. The clippings are focused on labor relations in the United States broadly conceived and span 1936 through his death in 1952.

The Photo Series is comprised of a small assortment of photographs. It includes a few photos of Murray and other union leaders, but a large portion of the photos were sent to Murray by a particular union body or by the people outside the union movement such as politicians, admirers, job seekers and union supporters.

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Arrangement

The Philip Murray Papers consists of five series:

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The United Steelworkers of America gave legal custody of the Philip Murray Papers to the Catholic University of America Archives in 1953. The largest portion of Philip Murray Papers arrived at The Catholic University of America from the Pittsburgh office of the United Steelworkers of America in two deposits in 1953 and 1954. A formal ceremony celebrating the donation of the Philip Murray Papers to the CUA Archives occurred in January 1956. The USWA made additional smaller deposits from both its Pittsburgh and Washington offices in 1955, 1958, and 1960.

Processing Information

Processing completed in July 2002 by Joseph Turrini. Data entry completed by Clint Tibbs and Joseph Turrini. EAD markup completed in February 2006 by Cathey Dugan and Jordan Patty.

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Related Material

The CUA Archives also contains:

The John Brophy Papers

Congress of Industrial Organizations Records

Other Repositories Include:

Philip Murray Papers, Penn State University

UMWA District #5 records at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Special Collections and Archives

United Steelworkers of America Records, Penn State University

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Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Persons:

Organizations:

Subjects:

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Bibliography

Publications On the Life of Philip Murray:

Philip Murray Publications (listed in chronological order):

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Detailed Description of the Collection