Califf, Joseph, 1911-

Joseph Califf was born in 1911 in Pennsylvania. He grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and attended the University of Kentucky and then the University of the South, where he graduated in 1932. He worked for various New Deal relief agencies first in Kentucky and then in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Resettlement Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and finally the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. While working in Washington, Califf was actively opposed to the policies of the leadership of his union, the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL. When the AFL expelled his local in 1936, it joined the United Federal Workers of America, CIO.

In 1944, Califf went to work for the United Auto Workers, where he handled wage stabilization cases before the National War Labor Board. The next year he became Education and Research Director of the Food and Tobacco Workers in Philadelphia, writing industry reports and participating in contract negotiations. In 1950, when the FTA was expelled from the CIO and merged with several office and distributing workers unions, Califf took a research position at District 65. He opposed the action by District 65 to go back into the CIO, and subsequently left the union.

In the 1950s, Califf worked briefly with a number of unions, among them the United Mine Workers, and the Fur Workers Union. He worked for the Civil Rights Congress and as a steelworker before getting a job teaching social science and economics at the State University of New York at Potsdam.

From the description of Papers, 1936-1977. 1936-1950 (bulk). (New York University). WorldCat record id: 477248826

Joseph Califf was born in 1911 in Pennsylvania. He grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and attended the University of Kentucky and then the University of the South, where he graduated in 1932. He worked for various New Deal relief agencies first in Kentucky and then in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Resettlement Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and finally the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. While working in Washington, Califf was actively opposed to the policies of the leadership of his union, the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL. When the AFL expelled his local in 1936, it joined the United Federal Workers of America, CIO.

In 1944, Califf went to work for the United Auto Workers, where he handled wage stabilization cases before the National War Labor Board. The next year he became Education and Research Director of the Food and Tobacco Workers in Philadelphia, writing industry reports and participating in contract negotiations. In 1950, when the FTA was expelled from the CIO and merged with several office and distributing workers unions, Califf took a research position at District 65. He opposed the action by District 65 to go back into the CIO, and subsequently left the union.

In the 1950s, Califf worked briefly with a number of unions, among them the United Mine Workers, and the Fur Workers Union. He worked for the Civil Rights Congress and as a steelworker before getting a job teaching social science and economics at the State University of New York at Potsdam.

From the guide to the Joseph Califf Papers, Bulk, 1936-1950, 1936-1977, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)