John Owens Collection MSS# 41

Transcription

1 OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Ohio University Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections John Owens Collection MSS# 41 Author: Title: John Owens John Owens Collection Date: Abstract: Quantity: Letters, wage agreements, speeches, civil actions, photographs, and bound volumes 5 cu. ft. BIOGRAPHY OF O. John Owens was born in 1891 in Wales. The son of a coal miner, he and his family came to Marchville, Ohio area when he was only two. At age ten, he started work in the coal mines. At 15, he had an accident in one of then coal mines and lost his right leg. From 1915 to 1921 he worked as a check weighman for the miners. He became interested in the politics of the United Mine Workers (UMW) and eventually became President of District No. 6. In 1948, he was elected international secretary-treasurer of the UMW and became a strong right arm of John L. Lewis, President of UMW. He held this post for over twenty years and participated in many contract negotiations which the union conducted for the miners. He was a strong proponent of miner safety legislation and became widely recognized as one of the country s top labor executives. He held numerous positions until his retirement in John Owens was married to the former Bernice Cash and had two sons, who became connected to the UMW. Ronald Owens became secretary-treasurer of the Ohio UMW and Willard Owens became an attorney for the UMW in Washington. John Owens died in 1984 in Cambridge, Ohio.

2 SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION The John Owens Collection is contained in 13 boxes. Included in this collection is a good amount of letters and correspondence. The letters are arranged by year, then alphabetically and include many letters from prominent labor leaders; such as John L. Lewis, Thomas Kennedy, W.A. Boyle, Earl Houck, and Adolph Pacifico. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. The collection also includes wage agreements, speeches of Owens, civil actions involving the UMW, and nearly 200 photographs. The majority of the above relates to Owens tenure as International secretary-treasurer f the UMW of America. Some of the more interesting items in this collection are included in the large number of civil actions involving the UMW, in particular, the testimonies of the suspects in the murder of labor leader Joseph Yablonski and family. Large quantities of bound volumes concerning UMW affairs are also located in this collection ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLECTION These records are organized into the following series: Series I: Series II: Series III: Series IV: Series V: Series VI: Series VII: Series VIII: Series IX: Series X: Series XI: Series XII: Series XIII: Series XIV: Letters Correspondence UMW Expense Books for John Owens Checking Account Records Wage Agreements UMW Welfare and Retirement Fund Speeches of John Owens United Organized Labor of Ohio Civil Actions involving UMW Testimonies involving the Murder of Joseph Yablonski and Family Printed Matter Memorabilia Photographs Bound Volumes Abbreviations with in content list: UMW United Mine Workers TLS Typed letter, signed TL Typed letter CTLS Copy of type letter, signed

3 RELATED MATERIALS Archives and Special Collections has MSS71 dealing with UMWA District No. 6. For more information about the UMW see United Mine Workers of America on ALICE and OhioLink Websites: ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Restrictions: The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Ohio University Libraries. Preferred Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection name, collection number, and the Ohio University Libraries, in all footnotes and bibliographical references. Accession Number: Unknown Provenance: Property Rights: Copyrights: Photoduplication: Processing: The Ohio University Archives received the collection as a gift from Ronald C. Owens in June Ohio University retains all property rights to the collection. Ohio University retains all copyrights unless retained by the donor, other correspondents, or other artists. Ohio University will entertain requests to photocopy reasonable amounts of material from the collection for the convenience of individual researchers. John P. Bernard processed the collection between February and April of 1985.

4 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below. CONTAINER LIST Box/Folder Description Series 1: Letters 1 / 1 From 1946 A-Fz, 20 letters G-Lz, 34 letters 2 M-pz, 72 letters 3 R-Zz, 26 letters From 1947 A-Fz, 39 letters G-Lz, 48 letters 4 M-Pz, 46 letters R-Zz, 46 letters 5 From 1948, 37 letters From 1949, 35 letters 6 From 1950, 25 letters From 1951, 30 letters From 1952, 25 letters 2 / 1 From 1953, 21 letters From 1954, 21 letters From 1955, 14 letters 2 From 1956, 23 letters From 1957, 17 letters From 1958, 31 letters 3 From 1959, 39 letters From 1960, 31 letters 4 From 1961, 21 letters From 1962, 47 letters 5 From 1963, 29 letters From 1964, 29 letters

5 6 From 1965, 29 letters From 1966, 26 letters 3 / 1 From 1967, 33 letters From 1968, 23 letters 2 From 1969, 11 letters From 1970, 17 letters From , 19 letters 3 From John L. Lewis, 12 letters -TLS, May 12, 1947, 1 pg. -TL, July 22, 1947, 1 pg. -TLS, December 31, 1947, 1 pg. -TL, August 30, 1949, 1 pg. -TLS, December 27, 1950, 1 pg. -TLS, February 13, 1951, 1 pg. -TLS, January 8, 1952, 1 pg. -TLS, January 14, 1953, 1 pg. -TLS, February 16, 1953, 1 pg. -TLS, February 11, 1954, 1 pg. -TLS, December 21, 1956, 1 pg. -CTLS, August 16, 1960, 1 pg. Series II: Correspondence 4 From 1946, 121 letters From 1947, 43 letters 5 From 1948, 39 letters From 1949, 34 letters 6 From 1950, 41 letters From 1951, 30 letters From 1952, 23 letters 7 From 1953, 29 letters From 1954, 31 letters 8 From 1955, 21 letters From 1956, 41 letters 4 / 1 From 1957, 48 letters From 1958, 51 letters

6 2 From 1959, 85 letters 3 From 1960, 47 letters From 1961, 41 letters 4 From 1962, 35 letters From 1963, 62 letters 5 From 1964, 30 letters From 1965, 38 letters 6 From 1966, 45 letters From 1967, 52 letters 7 From 1968, 65 letters 8 From 1969, 37 letters From 1970, 19 letters From , 53 letters Series III: UMW Expense Book for John Owens 5 / /

7 Series IV: Checking Account Records 2 Checking Account Records for UMW from Series V: Wage Agreements 3 Wage Chronology for bituminous coal mines 4 National bituminous coal wage agreements, , 2 copies National bituminous coal wage agreement Work stoppers of bituminous coal mines in wage Disputes / wage agreement data 2 Krug-Lewis agreement data wage conference data John Owens private wage data 4 Miscellaneous wage data Series VI: UMW Welfare and Retirement Fund 8 / 1 Report of welfare and retirement payments Miscellaneous data Series VII: Speeches of John Owens 2 Radio address, WTAM Cleveland, Ohio, November 22, 1937 Address to Ohio Adult Education Association, Columbus, Ohio, December 28, 1938 Address presenting John Lewis at the 36 th UMW Constitutional Convention, Columbus, Ohio, January 1940 Introduction of John Lewis at the Golden Anniversary Convention, Columbus, Ohio, January 23, Draft of Guernsey County Sesquicentennial labor day speech, September 6, 1948 Lewis day speech held in Washington, Pennsylvania,

8 February 12, 1949 Speech given at John Mitchell Day, Scranton, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1949 Address given at Whitesville and Smithers, West Virginia, September 3, 1951 Address given at District 6 Convention, Columbus, Ohio, January 13-15, Address given at District 6 Convention, Columbus, Ohio, no date Unidentified speeches and partial speeches Series VIII: United Organized Labor of Ohio 5 Miscellaneous data 6 (Continued) Miscellaneous 7 List of right to work petition cosigners in Athens County List of right to work petition cosigners in Hocking County List of right to work petition cosigners in Jackson County 9 / 1 List of right to work petition cosigners in Lawrence County List of right to work petition cosigners in Perry County List of right to work petition cosigners in Vinton County Series IX: Civil Actions involving UMW 2 Civil Action #1040 Charles Lavender vs. UMW Civil Action #3667 Ramsey vs. UMW 3 Civil Action #303 Southeast Coal Company vs. UMW and Consolidation Coal Company Civil Action #444 Blue Diamond Coal Company vs. UMW Civil Actions in District 30 #284, 553, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 565, 567, 569, 570, and Civil Action #8807 Hamilton vs. UMW

9 Civil Action #572 Blair-Elkhorn Mining Company vs. UMW Civil Action #B Donnelly vs. UMW Civil Action #297 Jakes Fork Coal Company vs. UMW Civil Action #1072 Jessup vs. UMW 5 Civil Action #9281 Kelly vs. UMW Civil Action #3224 Lewis vs. Graham Civil Action #23847 Smith vs. UMW Civil Action Laburnum Construction Corporation vs. UMW and WMC 6 Civil Action # Rule vs. UMW Civil Action #433 Virgo Coals vs. UMW Civil Action # Chavis Mining Company vs. UMW Civil Action # 83 Chloe Drilling Company vs. UMW Civil Action #3771 Gibbs vs. UMW Civil Action #1029 Smith vs. UMW Civil Action #296 Scubby Coal Company vs. UMW 7 Civil Action #9758 Injunction re Holding 1960 Convention Civil Action #5805 Riverton Coal Company vs. UMW Civil Action #2400 Benedict Coal Company vs. UMW Civil Action #361 Haislip Baking Company vs. UCW and UMW Civil Action #1148 UMW vs. Dewey Cook, Jr. Individually and Training as Days Branch Darby Coal Company 10 / 1 Civil Action #3867 Snyder and Randolph vs. UMW Civil Action # Hodgson vs. UMW and UMW District 6 Civil Action # Monborne, Harris, Mastring, etc. vs. UMW and UMW District 2 Criminal Action # United States of America vs. W.A. Boyle, John Owens, and James Kmetz Civil Action #72-2 Bert Cross, et.al. vs.ums 2 Civil Action #3431 John L. Lewis, et.al. vs. James Pennington, et.al. -Background of case -Testimony of John Owens, May 8, 1961

10 -Testimony of John Owens, May 9, Miscellaneous testimonies concerning Pennington case 4 -UMW file #1 concerning Pennington case 5 -UMW file #2 concerning Pennington case 11 / 1 -Decision of Judge Robert L. Taylor -Miscellaneous data about case Series X: Testimonies involving the Murder of Joseph Yablonski and Family 2 Testimony of Annette Gilly admitting her part in the murder Testimony of Claude Edward Vealey admitting his part in the murder Testimony of John Owens regarding possible illegal political campaign money Series XI: Printed Matter 3 23 pieces pertaining to UMW 4 (Continued) 23 pieces pertaining to UMW 5 (Continued) 23 pieces pertaining to UMW 12 / 1 11 miscellaneous printed material 2 Newspaper clippings, 22 total Series XII: Memorabilia 3 Miscellaneous materials concerning presidential inaugurations 4 Personal scrapbook Series XIII: Photographs Miscellaneous photographs of 1964 UMW convention Negatives of John Owens parents, no date Color photo of John L. Lewis, no date Photo of John Owens giving a speech, no date or Location Photos of Bernice Owens, wife, no date Photo of John Owens, Adolph Pacifico, and Governor of Ohio, January 15, 1957 Two photos of Tony Boyle and John Owens, no date Two photos of Tony Boyle, John Owens, and unidentified man, no date

11 5 Miscellaneous unidentified photos, / 1 Framed photo of John L. Lewis, no date Framed photo of Thomas Kennedy, no date Framed photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tony Boyle, John Owens, and two unidentified men, no date Photo of John L. Lewis, Thomas Kennedy, and unidentified man, no date Photo of Tony Boyle, Thomas Kennedy, John Owens, and three unidentified men, no date Photo of Earl E. Houck, no date Unidentified photo, no date Series XIV: Bound Volumes Ohio House Journal 1931, Volume 114 UMW Wage Agreements Proceedings of West Virginia Joint Conference of Miners and Operators, Proceedings of Alabama Coal Operations Ass n & UMA, 1903 Ohio and Illinois National Anthracite Ohio Mining Journal, National Proceedings Iowa Gold and Silver tragic pages Reports of John Owens and Internal Auditors of UMW

12 Reports of Thomas Kennedy, Minutes of International and District Conventions A.F. of L. and UMW of a proceedings of the International and District Convention Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume Volume 1

13 -1919 Volume Volume Volume Volume 2 Proceedings of UMW District and Annual Conventions Proceedings of 45 th UMW Convention 1968 Constitutions of Law Volume Volume , 2 copies UMW and Districts Wage Agreements Ohio Mining Yearbook, April 1, 1941 to April 1, 1943 Proceedings of Inter-State Conventions Coal Miners and Operators -Volume 1, , 2 copies -Volume 2, , 2 copies -Volume 3, , 2 copies

14 -Volume 4, , 4 copies -Volume 5, Volume 6, , 2 copies -Volume 7, , 2 copies Constitutional Convention UMW District 1968 National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreements 1908 Agreement between Republic Steep Corporation and United Steel Workers 1971 Agreement between Bethlehem Steel Corporation and United Steel Workers 1971 Agreement between United States Steel Corporation and United Steel Workers 1971