United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Records
The first local of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners to be founded in western Massachusetts was chartered in 1885 as Springfield Local 96, followed in quick order by locals in Holyoke (390) and Chicopee (685). With the pace of unionization picking up at the turn of the century, the Springfield District Council was established in 1906 to coordinate collective bargaining efforts and apprenticeships, and to enforce work rules in the local construction industry. Holyoke carpenters formed their own District Council soon thereafter. Tthe logic of consolidation and a unified voice eventually led the Springfield locals to consolidate as Local 32 in 1968, which in turn merged with the Holyoke District Council in 1973 to form Local 108.
The records of the Western Massachusetts locals and district councils of the UBCJA documents the rise of unionization among carpenters in the Connecticut River Valley since the 1880s. This collection represents a merger of separate accessions for the District Councils in Springfield (MS 110), the Pioneer Valley (MS 231), and Holyoke (MS 108), along with post-merger records for Local 108. In general, each has been maintained as a distinct series
With a long history of labor activism in their trade, Peter J. McQuire and Gustav Luebkert organized the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in 1881 to serve as a focal point for collective bargaining in the building trades. Holding its first convention in Chicago that August, the new union began to expand nationally, growing from barely 2,000 members in its first year to nearly 100,000 twenty years later.
The first local of the UBCJA founded in western Massachusetts was chartered in 1885 as Springfield Local 96, followed in quick order by locals in Holyoke (Local 390), Chicopee (Local 685), and other towns. Several locals represented the ethnic and linguistic diversity of the region, with Locals 96, 685, and 390 drawing mostly from among French Canadians and Locals 177 (Springfield), 222 (Westfield), and 1888 (Holyoke) focused on Anglophones.
With the pace of unionization picking up at the turn of the century, the Springfield District Council was established in 1906 and played an immediate role in coordinating collective bargaining, apprenticeship, and work rules in the local construction industry. Although Holyoke carpenters formed their own District Council soon thereafter, the logic of consolidation and a unified voice eventually prevailed. The Springfield locals consolidated as Local 32 in 1968, which in turn merged with the Holyoke District Council in 1973 to form Local 108.
The records of the Springfield District Council of the UBCJA includes strong documentation of the rise of unionization among carpenters in the Connecticut River Valley from the 1880s through 1980s. The collection includes by-laws, correspondence, and subject files of the Springfield District Council along with minutes, membership records, financial records, contracts, agreements and trials, and some correspondence for Locals 96 (Springfield), 685 (Chicopee), 177 (Springfield), 222 (Westfield), and 32 (Springfield).
Placed on deposit by the UBCJA, Jan. 1986.
Reprocessed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Sept. 2015.
)Cite as: United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Springfield District Council Records (MS 110). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.