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Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Parkersburg Central Trades & Labor Council Records, A&M 3111, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background and Context for the Parkersburg Central Trades and Labor Council

The Parkersburg Central Trades and Labor Council (PCTLC) was organized in 1910 to provide a cooperative and clearinghouse organization for locals of the American Federation of Labor-affiliated unions in Wood and surrounding counties. The PCTLC was closely tied to the West Virginia State Federation of Labor. It participated in a number of labor activities such as strikes and boycotts and participated in politics through endorsement of political candidates. Its primary organ for political involvement was Labor's League for Political Education (LLPE), which often hosted lectures by political candidates. In 1950, the PCTLC formed a women's auxiliary, although women were not barred from general membership and frequently represented their unions as delegates to the PCTLC. With the 1957 merger of the A.F.L and C.I.O. units in West Virginia, the PCTLC passed into history and was succeeded by the Parkersburg Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

The archives of the Parkersburg Central Trades and Labor Council came to the West Virginia and Regional History Collection (now Center), and West Virginia University's Institute for Labor Studies assisted in the acquisition. This collection joins other archives at the West Virginia Regional History Center (WVRHC) which have a direct relation to the PCTLC. The WVRHC also holds archives of the Parkersburg Typographical Union, a member of the PCTLC. The archives of the West Virginia State Federation of Labor include 1924 correspondence from the PCTLC, a copy of the PCTLC constitution, and 1935-37 correspondence related to the PCTLC. Archives of the West Virginia Labor Federation contain scattered correspondence of the PCTLC.

Scope and Contents

Minutes, financial records, and miscellaneous historical material of Parkersburg Central Trades and Labor Council (PCTLC), an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the West Virginia State Federation of Labor. The organization, founded in 1910, participated in various political activities and union organization activities and sponsored Labor's League for Political Education (LLPE) and created a women's auxiliary during the 1950s. The council consisted of assorted AFL affiliated unions in the Parkersburg area.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• American Federation of Labor
• Elections
• Labor
• Parkersburg Central Trades & Labor Council
• Railroad workers.
• West Virginia Federation of Labor