State Historical Society of Iowa

Iowa Labor Collection

in partnership with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

National Leadership Grant, Institute of Museum and Library Services

The State Historical Society of Iowa was awarded a $360,000 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to process and catalog its labor history collection.

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

The Iowa Labor History Oral Project was initiated in 1974 by the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. For over twenty years, the Iowa Federation of Labor has funded the collection and, working with SHSI, has ensured the preservation of the rich materials recovered by the project. The Iowa Labor Collection currently consists of over 1,100 oral history interviews with Iowa trade unionists and 800 linear feet of labor records.

State Historical Society of Iowa, Special Collections

The State Historical Society of Iowa maintains an extensive archive of labor union records, newsletters, newspapers, and other printed material to complement the oral history interviews. Researcher will find minutes of meetings, constitutions and bylaws, contracts and agreements, grievances, financial records, scrapbooks, photographs, and films. Please direct inquiries to Special Collections reference staff.

History and Purpose

The Iowa labor collection has important things to tell historians, not only about the history of the working class and trade unionism in Iowa, but in the country as a whole. Click here if you would like to learn more.

ILHOP Oral History

General Information

ILHOP Participants

Key to Unions

Oral History Interviews by Town

Archival Collections

Selected Records

Audio-Visual

Library Resources

Bibliography

Library Resources

Educational Projects

Labor History Exhibits

Iowa Labor History Timeline

Contact Information

IMLS Grant Project Staff, State Historical Society of Iowa

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

The University of Iowa Labor Center

Last revised: August 19, 2002