Alfredo Chavez Montoya papers, 1930-1995 (bulk 1950-1980)

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Alfredo Chavez Montoya papers, 1930-1995 (bulk 1950-1980)

The Alfredo Chávez. Montoya Papers document Montoya's work as a labor organizer in the Southwest, 1940s-1970s, with the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, the AFL-CIO, the United Steel Workers of America, the Bracero Program (also known as the Seasonal Farm Laborers Program), the Asociación Nacional Mexicano Americano, and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. Much of Montoya's work was based out of El Paso, Texas, involving the greater Southwest, especially New Mexico, Arizona, and West Texas. The Montoya Papers primarily chronicle over thirty years of labor activity at the national, district and local levels, revealing diverse aspects of labor organizing, political involvement and the internal politics of labor unions. His papers provide an important resource for researchers interested in Mexican-American and Mexican labor history in the Southwest; the relationships between labor, government and the electoral process; as well as race, ethnicity, and gender issues in the labor movement. The collection is divided into twelve series. Bracero Program 1935-1951: Reference materials related to the 1942-1945 labor program initiated by the U.S. government. Asociación Nacional Mexicano Americano, 1951-1954: Correspondence, financial records, newsletters and reference materials related to Montoya's time with ANMA. Virginia Montoya, 1952-1953: Personal notebook of Virginia Montoya, wife of Alfredo Montoya. Contents relate to ANMA, the Bracero Program, Ladies' Auxiliary, and the Wallace political campaign. International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill), 1930-1967: The second largest series in the collection documents 16 years of Mine Mill activity. The four subseries are International and National Administration, District Offices, Local Unions, and Reference Materials. The International and National Administration subseries contains publications and materials related to the executive board and staff, financial records, legal defense, political action and union conventions. The District Offices subseries consists of papers related to Montoya's role as both a Business Agent and an International Representative for Mine Mill, in addition to papers from other International Representatives and materials related to political organizing at the district level. The Local Unions subseries contains materials from local unions 412, 415, 470, 501, 509, 616, 700, 890, 903, Arizona and Nevada locals, and local union councils. The materials include correspondence, proposals, negotiations, agreements, contracts, arbitrations, grievances, and financial records. The last subseries, Reference Materials, consists of a variety of files related to Montoya's work. United Steelworkers of America (USWA), 1958-1980: The largest series of the Montoya Papers documents approximately 12 years of USWA activity and history. It is divided into six subseries: International Administration, District 37, District 38, Staff Representative, Local Unions, and National Councils and Committees. The International Administration subseries consists of materials related to the executive board, various departments of the International Office, agreements and negotiations with specific companies, conferences, and union elections. The District 37 subseries contains materials related to union activities at the district level, including correspondence, conferences, and conventions. The District 38 subseries is small, containing papers from campaigns for District Director, Chicano staff meetings, and political action. The Staff Representative subseries is substantial, containing large amounts of Montoya's papers. It is divided into three sections: Office Files, Organizations and Subjects Files and Political Activity. The Office Files section consists of papers largely related to the administrative duties of the Staff Representative. The section of Organizations and Subjects Files contains a large amount of varied material demonstrating the range of activity required of a Staff Representative. The papers and materials include USWA Agreements, various subject files related to Montoya's work, ranging from Air Pollution to Chicano Affairs to Education. This section also includes materials from the large number of organizations that Montoya maintained a membership and/or a leadership position in. The section on Political Activity is largely made up of materials related to the various city, state, and national elections, including voter analysis, voter registration, and campaign materials. The National Councils and Committees subseries is small containing materials from the ASARCO Bargaining Committee, the National Non-Ferrous Bargaining Council and the Phelps-Dodge National Negotiating Committee. The Local Unions subseries includes materials from local unions 501,509,890,903, 2407, and 6352. The materials reflect union activity at the local level, including correspondence, proposals, negotiations, agreements, contracts, arbitrations, grievances, and financial records. AFL-CIO, 1969-1995: Divided into three subseries-National, Texas, and New Mexico AFL-CIO, the majority of the materials in the National AFL-CIO subseries are publications by the AFL-CIO. The Texas AFL-CIO is the largest of the subseries due to Montoya's location in El Paso. Pennsylvania State University Oral History Project, 1969-1975. Contains the transcript of a 1969 oral history interview with Alfredo Montoya, plus permissions correspondence. Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), 1973-1976: Consists of the founding documents, first national convention, first newsletters, and other early records of this organization, founded by U.S. Latino trade unionists . The bulk of this series remains unprocessed. Photographs, 1970: Restricted, 1966-1976. These files primarily pertain to grievances, arbitration, accident reports, and terminations. Ask CSWR staff for potential access to these boxes. Oversize, 1953-1971: Contains oversize materials removed from series above. Newspapers, 1952-1977: This series contains scattered issues of a wide range of Mine Mill, AFL-CIO, and other labor newspapers from around the U.S.

17 boxes (25.6 cu. ft.) + 1 oversize folder

eng,

spa,

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7450489

University of New Mexico-Main Campus

Related Entities

There are 8 Entities related to this resource.

AFL-CIO

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h52hhw (corporateBody)

The AFL and CIO merged in 1955 as an umbrella organization for skilled trade and industrial unions. Its regional office in Baltimore represented worker interests against this railroad merger. From the description of AFL-CIO response to merger of Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads, 1962-1963. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 238572652 Created by merger of American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955. ...

Seasonal Farm Laborers Program

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jb1jbq (corporateBody)

The Seasonal Farm Laborers Program also known as the Bracero Programs were the result of a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. For these farmworkers, the agreement guaranteed decent living conditions and a minimum wage, as well as protections from forced military service, and guaranteed that a part of wages was to be put into a private savings account in Mexico; it also allowed the impo...

Asociación Nacional Mexicano Americano.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6993k2s (corporateBody)

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61k4p2p (corporateBody)

Montoya, Virginia.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ks8c2h (person)

United Steelworkers of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c863vq (corporateBody)

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) was established 22 May 1942, by a convention of representatives from the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers (AAISTW) and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) after an intensive organizing initiative by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s. After mergers in 2005, it was renamed United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW...

International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w41mc1 (corporateBody)

The International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) emerged in 1916 from the more radical Western Federation of Miners (WFM) which organized mine and copper industry workers. IUMMSW reasserted its presence in the western mines, most successfully during the five-month strike in Butte and Anaconda (Montana) in 1934. A founding member of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the IUMMSW was expelled in 1950 because of the Union's perceived Communist ties. In 1967, the IUMMS...

Montoya, Alfredo Chavez

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dz1wt3 (person)

Alfredo Chávez Montoya was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 18, 1921. His parents were both originally from rural communities in the central part of the state, and his father worked for the Kennecott Copper mines in Grant County, New Mexico in the 1920s and 30s. Alfredo Montoya graduated from high school in Silver City in 1941, after which he attended the University of New Mexico. At the end of his junior year, he took a summer job working for the Bracero Program, the fe...