Title: HENRY KRAUS COLLECTION Genre: Papers Date : 1926-1960 (Predominantly, 1935-1944) Size : 11 linear feet, 2 oversized folders ID #: 112 OCLC: ©Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs HEFA.01c.update |
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Scope & Contents
The papers of Henry Kraus were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs in October of 1965 and were opened for research in that year. Later deposits were received in April of 1968 and March of 1984. They constitute Part 2 of this collection and were opened for research in March of 1985.
Henry Kraus was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1905, the son of an active member of the IWW barbers' union. The family subsequently moved to New York City and then to Cleveland where Kraus earned a B.A. and an M.A. degree in mathematics at Western Reserve University. After he married Dorothy Rogin they traveled to France in 1927. He worked there as a medical translator while attempting to launch a writing career.
They returned to Cleveland in 1930. Kraus was interested in writing about workers and met Wyndham Mortimer who was organizing Cleveland auto workers. Mortimer had Kraus begin writing publicity for the Cleveland Auto Council, and in 1935 Kraus began the United Auto Worker in 1936, which as the United Automobile Worker, became the official newspaper of the UAW.
He worked closely with Mortimer in Flint in 1936 organizing auto workers into the UAW. He also began the Flint Auto Worker which he edited. In that year he was also involved in the Kelsey-Hayes and Midland sit-down strikes. He and his wife were among the leaders of the Flint Sit-Down Strike in the winter of 1936-1937. He published his account of it in 1947 in The Many and the Few.
In March, 1937 Kraus was fired by President Homer Martin from the editorship of both union papers. He moved to California when Mortimer requested his help in 1939 in organizing the West Coast aircraft industry. After the North American Aviation strike was broken by government troops and the organizers were repudiated by the international union, Kraus left union work.
He worked for a time for the Technicolor Corporation, and during World War II he worked in the Consolidated Steel Corporation shipyards as a shipfitter's helper and in the engineering department. Throughout that period the Krauses lived in an interracial housing project in San Pedro and developed a plan for the tenants to buy their units. This was described in his book, In the City Was a Garden (1951).
During his years with the UAW he was often labeled as a communist and this housing plan was also called communistic. In the Cold War atmosphere of the postwar period this resulted in his having difficulty securing employment. Therefore, he took a position as a medical reporter in Europe and opened the Paris Bureau for Physicians News Service.
In Europe he was able to pursue an interest which dated from his earlier visit, medieval art. After his retirement in 1962 he was able to devote himself completely to the study of European cathedrals and the publication of scholarly articles and books. His books on art are: The Living Theatre of Medieval Art (1967), The Hidden World of Misericords (1975) with Dorothy Kraus, Gold Was the Mortar (1979), and a forthcoming volume on the Gothic choirstalls of Spain. In 1984 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship to support his studies and writing on art. He and his wife continue to reside in Paris.
The papers of Henry Kraus relate to the early attempts to organize auto workers and to the UAW from 1935 through 1941. The Flint Sit-Down Strike and factionalism in the UAW are particularly well documented.
Black Legion
Briggs strike, 1933
Chrysler strike, 1937
Cleveland convention, 1939
Dodge Main, 1935-37
First conference of Federal Labor Unions in the auto industry, 1934
First conference to promote international union, September 1934
First convention UAW-AFL, 1935
Flint sit-down strike and other GM strikes, 1936-37
Ford Hunger March, 1932
Ford organizing attempts, 1933-38
Goodyear Rubber strike, 1936
Hudson strike, 1937
Hupmobile strike, 1934
The Many and the Few
Martin, Homer, convention, Detroit, 1939
Michigan elections, 1938
Milwaukee convention, UAW, 1937
Motor Products strike, 1935
Murray Body strike, 1929
South Bend convention, UAW, 1936
Toledo Auto-Lite strike, 1934
Toledo Chevrolet strike, 1935
Threatened auto strike, March, 1934
Trial of five UAW officers, 1938
UE Local 430
World War II shipbuilding
Addes, George Manning, Michael
Brophy, John Martel, Frank X.
Byrd, Richard L. Martin, Homer
Collins, William Morrison, Frank
Coughlin, Rev. Charles Mortimer, Wyndham
Couzins, Frank Murphy, Frank
Dale, Ralph Pesotta, Rose
DeCaux, Len Pieper, F. C.
Dillon, Francis J. Raymond, Phil
Fitzgerald, Frank Reuther, Walter
Frankensteen, Richard Sugar, Maurice
Germer, Adolph Thomas, R. J.
Green, William Travis, Robert
Hall, Ed Winn, Frank
Lewis, John L.
A quantity of copies of the United Automobile Worker as well as copies of other UAW and War Production Drive newspapers from the l930s and 1940s have been transferred to the Archives Library. In addition, a bound volume of copies of the The March of Labor, and copies of other
magazines have also been transferred. Photographs of World War II shipbuilding and photos and original artwork for Here Is Your Union have been placed in the Archives A-V Collections.
22 manuscript boxes
2 oversized folders
Part 1
Series I, Pre-AFL Period, 1926-1933, Box 1:
Minutes, reports, handbills, clippings and other materials relating to the pre-AFL period in the auto industry. Most of these items concern the activities of the Auto Workers Union of the Trade Union Unity League. Among the topics covered are: the Murray Body strike (1929), Ford Hunger March (1932), and the Briggs strike (1933). A sixty-page history of the AWU is also in this series. The materials are arranged chronologically.
Series II, AFL Organization Efforts, 1933-1936, Boxes l-4:
Correspondence, circulars, press releases, clippings and other documents concerning the attempts by the AFL to organize the auto industry. Among the topics considered are: the Auto Code and Auto Labor Board, the strike threat of March 1934, the Toledo Auto-Lite strike (1934), the first conference of the AFL-FLU's in the auto industry (1934), the AFL National Council in the auto industry, Toledo-Chevrolet strike (1935), first convention of the UAW-AFL (1935), and the Motor Products strike (1935). The material is arranged chronologically within three general groups: AFL National Headquarters, AFL Detroit office, and UAW-AFL locals.
Series III, Cleveland Locals, 1933-1936, Boxes 4-6:
Minutes, correspondence, clippings and other materials regarding the activities of the Cleveland, Ohio auto locals for l933-1936. These items concern, in the main, the role played by these locals in promoting an international auto union. Arranged chronologically.
Series IV, South Bend Convention and Subsequent Period, 1934-1940, Boxes 6-7:
Proceedings, resolutions, correspondence and clippings pertaining to the UAW's South Bend Convention of 1936. This series also contains correspondence, minutes, press releases, etc. concerning the activities of the UAW during the period immediately following the South Bend Convention up to the GM strikes of 1936-37. Arranged chronologically.
Series V, GM Strikes, 1936-1937, Boxes 8-10:
Correspondence, minutes, reports, clippings, press releases, and other documents concerning the GM strikes of 1936-1937. The majority of these materials cover the Flint sit-downs, though GM strikes in other cities are also noted. These items are arranged chronologically in four general groupings: Flint prior to the strike (1933-36) including organization work by Wyndham Mortimer and Robert Travis, the sit-down period, GM strikes outside Flint, and Flint after the strikes (1937).
Series VI, UAW-CIO, 1937-1938, Boxes 11-13:
Press releases, speeches, correspondence, clippings and other documents pertaining to the UAW-CIO for the period 1937-38. Topics covered include: Chrysler strike, Husdson strike, developing factionalism, Milwaukee convention, 1938 Michigan elections, trial by the UAW of Vice-President Ed Hall and general UAW business. Arranged generally chronologically.
Series VII, Factionalism, 1938-1939, Boxes 13-15:
Correspondence, proceedings, speeches, affidavits, and other items relating to the growth of factionalism within the UAW which led to the suspension of five top officers by Homer Martin and, ultimately, to the split by Martin away from the CIO. Especially well documented is the trial of the five officers: George Addes, Wyndham Mortimer, Walter Wells, Richard Frankensteen, and Ed Hall. The two conventions of 1939, anti-Martin forces in Cleveland and pro-Martin in Detroit are also documented. Arranged chronologically.
Series VIII, Miscellaneous Files, 1928-1940, Box 16 and 2 oversized folders:
Of particular note in this miscellaneous series are the items pertaining to attempts to organize the Ford Motor Company during 1933-1938. Another group of records concerns the CIO, 1935-1940. The material is arranged chronologically within each subject.
Various oversized items relating to various parts of the collection are arranged chronologically in two oversized folders. A complete inventory of the material in these folders will be found on page 14.
Part 2
Series IX, Henry Kraus General Files, 1935-1960, Boxes 17-18: Minutes, reports, drafts and copies of publications, efficiency and improved production suggestions, and reference material. This series relates mainly to California shipyards during World War II and efforts in which Kraus was involved to stimulate war production. There is also material relating the The Many and the Few and his articles and pamphlets, particularly Here Is Your Union, a history of UE Local 430. Files are arranged alphabetically by subject.
Box 17
1. Allis-Chalmers strike; clippings, 1941
2-5. Dodge Main; Works Council minutes, 1935-37
6. Flint Sit-Down; clippings, 1947
7. "Industry's Untapped Resources;" HK in Harper's Magazine, 1942
8. ILWU; mechanization agreement information, 1960
9. Los Angeles CIO Council; constitution, n.d.
10. The Many and the Few; publicity, 1947
11. The Many and the Few; reviews, 1947-48
12. "Negroes and the War," Chandler Owen
13. Shipbuilding; Calship publications, 1943-44
14-16. Shipbuilding; Consolidated Steel Masthead 1944-45
17. Shipbuilding; Consolidated Steel organizing
18. Shipbuilding; Consolidated Steel publications, 1942-43
19-20. Shipbuilding; Labor-Management Committee, 1943-44
21. Shipbuilding; notes on plant police, n.d.
22. Shipbuilding; suggestions, 1943-45
Box 18
1-2. Shipbuilding; suggestions data
3. Shop steward duties; notes, n.d.
4. "Straight from the Man on the Job," HK in Survey Graphic, 1946
5. Tool and die wage rates, 1947
6. UAW Vultee agreement, Local 683, 1940
7. UE Local 430; Here Is Your Union; draft
8. UE Local 430; Here Is Your Union; HK pamphlet, 1952
9-13. UE Local 430; reference material
14. War production; aircraft, 1941-45
Series X, Newspaper Clippings, 1935-1943, Boxes 18-22:
Newspaper clippings collected by Kraus chronicling the unionization of the automobile industry, opposition to entry into World War II, and war production. Files are arranged chronologically.
Box 18
15-18. Newspaper clippings, 1935-37
Box 19
1-10. Newspaper clippings, 1938
Box 20
1-6. Newspaper clippings (mounted), Jan-Jul 1938
7-11. Newspaper clippings, Jan-Feb 1939
Box 21
1-11. Newspaper clippings, Mar-Nov 1939
Box 22
1-8. Newspaper clippings, 1940-43