Galveston (Texas) Screwmen's Benevolent Association

The Screwmen’s Benevolent Association formed on the night of September 11, 1866, modeled after a similar group in New Orleans. These specialized longshoremen known as screwmen used screwjacks to stow and pack cotton bales into ships. The association set high standards for membership, considering an applicant’s physical fitness level, skill, character and health; they denied applications from black longshoremen and would not allow their members to work for anyone who employed them on their ship.

The association had become the largest, strongest union in the Galveston area by 1875. They continually worked to improve their image and prestige in the Galveston community, hosting events such as picnics, parades and balls.

Black longshoremen began to organize their own association starting in 1879, the Cotton Jammer’s Association. Norris Wright Cuney, a powerful and prominent black Galveston businessman and politician, was one of the primary movers of this organization, which he pushed into competition with the Screwmen’s Benevolent Association. In 1883, Cuney brought black longshoremen in from New Orleans and obtained a contract with the Morgan Lines, which broke the white longshoremen’s monopoly. That same year, the black longshoremen, further striking at the white monopoly, formed the Screwmen’s Benevolent Association No. 2.

The original Screwmen’s Association worked to cement its white workers’ monopoly by implementing an apprentice system in 1885. As the use of steel ships with larger holds increased, however, the association’s limits on work for its union members began to work against it, allowing black workers to take over more and more of the workload. The Association joined the national longshoremen’s union, Longshoremen’s Benevolent Union, in 1902 as Local 307. By World War I, machinery had completely eliminated the need for screwmen.

Sources:

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Cuney, Norris Wright, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/fcu20.html (accessed June 2, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Screwmen’s Benevolent Association, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/ocs1.html (accessed June 2, 2010).

From the guide to the Galveston (Texas) Screwmen's Benevolent Association Records, 1866-1922, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin)

The Screwmen's Benevolent Association formed on the night of September 11, 1866, modeled after a similar group in New Orleans.

These specialized longshoremen known as screwmen used screwjacks to stow and pack cotton bales into ships. The association set high standards for membership, considering an applicant's physical fitness level, skill, character and health; they denied applications from black longshoremen and would not allow their members to work for anyone who employed them on their ship.

The association had become the largest, strongest union in the Galveston area by 1875.

They continually worked to improve their image and prestige in the Galveston community, hosting events such as picnics, parades and balls.

Black longshoremen began to organize their own association starting in 1879, the Cotton Jammer's Association.

Norris Wright Cuney, a powerful and prominent black Galveston businessman and politician, was one of the primary movers of this organization, which he pushed into competition with the Screwmen's Benevolent Association. In 1883, Cuney brought black longshoremen in from New Orleans and obtained a contract with the Morgan Lines, which broke the white longshoremen's monopoly. That same year, the black longshoremen, further striking at the white monopoly, formed the Screwmen's Benevolent Association No. 2.

The original Screwmen's Association worked to cement its white workers' monopoly by implementing an apprentice system in 1885.

As the use of steel ships with larger holds increased, however, the association's limits on work for its union members began to work against it, allowing black workers to take over more and more of the workload. The Association joined the national longshoremen's union, Longshoremen's Benevolent Union, in 1902 as Local 307. By World War I, machinery had completely eliminated the need for screwmen.

From the description of Galveston (Texas) Screwmen's Benevolent Association Records, 1866-1922 (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 759405678