The Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, located on the campus of

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, contains millions of primary source documents related to the labor history of the United States, urban affairs, and the Wayne State University Archives. The building is named for UAW President and

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of Labor unions in the United States, unions that organized workers in industrial unionism, industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in ...

President Walter Reuther.

History

The Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs was established at

in 1960 to collect and preserve original documents related to the American labor movement. The library is named for early United Auto Workers organizer and president Walter Reuther. For over thirty years, the library's collections grew under the leadership of director Philip P. Mason. In 1975, a dedicated building was constructed for the library, using funds donated by the UAW and a grant from the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Architectural firm O'Dell, Hewlett and Luckenbach designed the initial construction. In 1991, the library's Leonard Woodcock Wing was completed, which added over to the building.

Collections

Labor records

The Reuther Library is the home of the largest labor archives in the United States, and contains over 75,000 linear feet of archival holdings, including paper and digital manuscript material, photographic prints and negatives, oral histories, audio recordings, and motion picture recordings. The library serves as the official archival repository for the following unions: *

Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 79,000 pilots from 42 US and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian ...

(ALPA) *

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(AFSCME) *

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 pe ...

(AFT) * Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters * Graphic Communication Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters *

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

(IWW) * National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) * The Newspaper Guild * Service Employees International Union (SEIU) * United Auto Workers (UAW) * United Farm Workers (UFW) The archives also collects material related to the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Workers Defense League and numerous labor-related organizations, especially those active in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area. Researchers can access personal papers from labor activists and union leaders at the Reuther Library, including collections from Cesar Chavez, Jerry Wurf, Walter P. Reuther, Leonard Woodcock, James and Grace Lee Boggs, Utah Phillips, Dolores Huerta, Jessie and Martin Glaberman, Raya Dunayevskaya and many others. Oral histories document the work of union leaders and rank-and-file members. Notable oral history collections include "Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women and the WWII Work Experience," and "Blacks in the Labor Movement." Many of the library's collections document the lives of working people and were not created by labor unions. Some of these include records related to the civil rights movement, predominantly during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

time period.. Numerous collections also document women in the workplace, both inside labor organizations and in a broader social context. A significant number of the library's oral histories relate to women's experiences at work, and the Reuther Library also serves as the official repository for the archival collections of the Society of Women Engineers.

Urban affairs

The Reuther Library collects material illustrating community life in metropolitan

. These documents pertain to ethnic communities, art and cultural organizations, economics, race relations, activist groups, neighborhoods, and real estate development. The library contains the Jewish Community Archives, as well as the records of several community organizations, including those of Focus: HOPE, New Detroit, and the Detroit Commission on Community Relations, and many progressive organizations in the area. The library also houses papers of former Detroit politicians, including city councilman Mel Ravitz and mayors Jerome Cavanagh and Coleman Young. In addition, the archives contain the papers of notable 20th-century architect Minoru Yamasaki.

Wayne State University Archives

The Reuther Library houses the Wayne State University Archives, which date from the institution's founding as the Detroit Medical College in 1868. Collections relate to university development and initiatives, departmental activities, student life, and university publications such as '' The South End''. University-affiliated organizations, including the Merrill-Palmer Institute, have placed their collections in the University Archives.

Programs

The Reuther Library conducts public programming to inform the public about archives and their use. These include exhibits, tours, open houses, collection opening events, and more. The Archives and Primary Resource Education Lab (APREL) at the Reuther Library promotes K-12 and Undergraduate use of archival materials in classrooms. The program offers instruction, embedded archivist services, curriculum development support and aims to study the impact of archives in education. The Reuther Library is also home to Labor@Wayne, the Centers for Labor Studies, Wayne State University's Employment and Labor Relations Program, the Fraser Center for Workplace Issues, and the Michigan Labor History Society. Labor@Wayne and many of its associated arms have been overseen by its director, Elizabeth Faue, since its resuscitation in 2023.

References

External links

The Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University

Archives and Primary Resource Education Lab (APREL)

Web exhibit of "12th Street, Detroit" on Detroit's 1967 Civil Unrest, including digitized archival material

HistoryPin Tours by the Walter P. Reuther Library staff

Virtual Motor City

Walter P. Reuther Library Receives Grant from NHPRC to Expand Discovery and Access to Oral Histories

UAW 75th Anniversary Celebration

{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1975 Wayne State University Archives in the United States University and college academic libraries in the United States History of social movements History of labor relations in the United States 1960 establishments in Michigan Women's occupational organizations American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees American Federation of Teachers History of the Industrial Workers of the World National Association of Letter Carriers Service Employees International Union United Auto Workers United Farm Workers Libraries in Detroit Walter Reuther University and college buildings completed in 1975 Research libraries in the United States