The Galveston Typographical Union was founded on November 23, 1860, when the National Typographical Union issued a charter to a small group of Galveston printers. Known as the Galveston Typographical Union No. 28, the union was one of the first labor organizations in Texas. After the National Typographical Union was incorporated into an international organization, with the addition of some Canadian chapters, they issued Galveston a new charter in June 1869. Organized to protect the interests of printers and typesetters in Galveston, the union engaged in many successful movements to improve the working conditions and benefits of its members. From 1906 to 1908, the union participated in the national movement to lower working hours from 54 hours to 48 hours a week. Again, in 1921, the union engaged in an ultimately successful four-year attempt to lower their hours to 44 per week. Following the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the union raised $5,000 to aid storm victims. The storm also destroyed most of the union’s pre-1900 records. The union disbanded in 1987 when the International Typographical Union merged with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Now known as the Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector of the CWA, the organization represents workers in fields such as newspapers, commercial printing, mailing operations, and graphic design.
Printing, Publishing & Media Workers Sector CWA.
Minutes, pamphlets, legal documents, and assorted printed material comprise the Galveston (Texas) Typographical Union Records, 1860-1935, and document the activities of the union. The collection includes rare pre-1900 Galveston records, such as minutes from union meetings from 1875 to 1932, originals and typescript. The records also contain a copy of the original union charter, 1860. The pamphlets in the collection concern the Union Printer’s Home in Colorado Springs, a sanatorium dedicated to the care of invalid and infirm members of the organization. Finally, the collection includes the program, invitation, and special publication for the union’s 75th anniversary in 1935.
This collection is open for research use.
Galveston (Texas) Typographical Union Records, 1860-1935, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.