United Steelworkers of America. Secretary-Treasurer's Office

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) formed in 1942. The Secretary-Treasurer was the chief financial officer and record keeper of the USWA with primary responsibility for the receipt and collection of all funds owed to the union. The Secretary-Treasurer and his assistants oversaw income from dues and fees; expenditures for pay roll, taxes, pensions, and insurance; investments; auditing of local unions and district funds; local union services and membership records; and bonding and by-laws. The position of Secretary-Treasurer was filled by David J. McDonald (1942-1952), I. W. Abel (1952-1965), and Walter J. Burke (1965-1977). Upon Burke's retirement the position was redefined: Lynn R. Williams became Secretary, and Frank S. McKee, Treasurer. In May 1953 Abel established the Documents and Effects Department under the direction of Daniel J. Horney. The function of this department within the Secretary-Treasurer's office was to preserve union records through a massive microfilming project. This project continued into the early 1970s and generated images of more than a million pages of documents from the USWA, as well as the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, and the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers.