ACME mine volunteer personnel
Date: December 5, 1919
In this document, the names of 31 volunteers assigned to the Acme Mine are listed. Included is the date they arrived for work in Pittsburg, Kansas, and the date they reported to the mine for work. These volunteers were recruited from surrounding areas to replace mine workers who refused to return to work following state takeover. In November 1919, the Kansas supreme court granted authority to the state of Kansas to operate the mines. This followed a series of strikes in the area. Court appointed receivers were put in place to operate the mines during this period. The state takeover lasted until mid- December when labor leaders in the area agreed to return mine workers to their jobs.

A. H. Gufler to Governor Henry Allen
Creator: Gufler, A. H
Date: December 22, 1919
In this letter, grocer A. H. Gufler writes the governor about the dangers of "anti-profiteering." The governor has called for a special legislative session to address labor disputes and had received many letters on the matter. In this correspondence, Gufler includes an article published in Collier's Weekly that compares the working family in 1880 and 1921.

Allen and Gompers debate letters
Creator: Colliers Magazine
Date: November 27, 1920
In these letters submitted to the Colliers Magazine, Kansas Governor Henry Allen and Samuel Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, continue the debate over the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations and workers' right to strike. The letters were written two months after the Allen-Gompers debate on the strike issue held in Carnegie Hall New York.

An analysis of the proposed right-to-work legislation
Creator: Kansas State Federation of Labor
Date: August 1954
In 1958, Kansas voters ratified the "right to work" amendment to the state constitution. The amendment stated, in part, that "No person shall be denied the opportunity to obtain or retain employment because of membership or non membership in any labor organization..." In this pamphlet, the Kansas State Federation of Labor argues that the purpose of the legislation was to limit the power of organized labor.

Boarding House, Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Knight, J. Lee
Date: September 1872
This stereograph shows a boarding house, possibly for railroad workers, at the end of the tracks west of Dodge City, Kansas.

Boarding House, Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Knight, J. Lee
Date: 1872
This stereograph shows a number of boxcars serving as a boarding house for railroad workers near Dodge City, Kansas.

Can't fix women's wages
Date: July 11, 1925
The Kansas Court of Industrial relations is not empowered to determine minimum wage for women and minors in industry reads an article in the Kansas City Star. The constitutional right of the Industrial Court to fix wages continued for several years following the creation of the Court by a special session of the Kansas Legislature in 1921. Challenged by the Topeka Packing Company and the Topeka Laundry Company in the United States Supreme Court, the court was declared unconstitutional in 1925.

Colonel A. B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: March 31, 1886
Kansas adjutant general Colonel A. B. Campbell writes to Kansas governor John Martin concerning striking railroad workers. The state militia had been called into service as a result of disruption of train service and alleged threats to public safety. Campbell explains that the "statements in the telegrams of the Mayor and Sheriff are not overdrawn. The sheriff was slapped in the face and spit upon. The mob undertook to drag Kimball from the engine and but for the timely arrival of the train of passengers and mail, there would have been a furious assault." Railroad strikers refused to allow freight trains to run following information received from Texas where several striking workers had not been rehired in that state, thus violating conditions of the strike. Federal and state law prohibited interruption of passenger and mail cars leaving freight cars vulnerable during the strike.

Construction and repairs, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas.
Date: 1987
Ten photographs showing various construction and repair projects at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas.

Decision of U.S. Supreme Court blow to Kansas
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: April 13, 1925
"Hours of labor in packing houses and other industries cannot be regulated by states through commissioners or industrial courts" is the decision handed down by the United States Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations.

Dixons' Laundry, Junction City, Kansas
Date: 1899
Men and women at work in Dixons' Laundry in Junction City, Kansas.

Don't get caught in a fat-cat squeeze
Creator: Kansas AFL-CIO
Date: 1958
This pamphlet encourages voters not to support "right to work" legislation in the form of an amendment to the Kansas constitution. Issued by the Kansas chapter of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations), the pamphlet argues that the "right to work" amendment would cut family income in half by making it harder for labor unions to represent workers and negotiate worker compensation.

Doug Wadsworth cleaning a floor at the Memorial Building in Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society. Library and Archives Division
Date: Between 1982 and 1989
A photograph showing Doug Wadsworth cleaning a floor at the Kansas State Historical Society. The Historical Society was located at the Memorial Building, 120 W. 10th Street in Topeka, Kansas.

Draft basis of settlement
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889: Martin)
Date: March 1886
This document from Kansas Governor John Martin's correspondence may have been written by the Knights of Labor and outlines eleven demands termed the "basis of settlement" for strike negotiations. The railroad strike of 1886 resulted from failed negotiations between railroad management, mechanics, and shop workers dating back to October 1884 when workers were notified of a 10% pay reduction. This made them the lowest paid railroad workers in the tristate area (Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas). A few months later, hours were also reduced. Workers argued they could not support their families.

Employees of the Kansas State Historical Society installing a sign
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society. Library and Archives Division
Date: 1984
Two photographs showing employees of the Kansas State Historical Society installing a sign at the Memorial Building at 120 W. 10th Street in Topeka, Kansas.

Executive circular to metropolitan police commissioners
Creator: Lewelling, Lorenzo Dow, 1846-1900
Date: December 4, 1893
With this circular, Governor Lorenzo Dow Lewelling of Topeka, Kansas, appeals to police commissioners of Kansas cities to show restraint in the prosecution of the unemployed. The governor argues that high rates of unemployment are a product of the industrial system of production and not the fault of individuals. Since jobs are not available to all employable persons, he argues, unemployed persons should not be treated as criminals. The governor denounces the vagrancy law for first class cities included in the General Statutes of 1889, and similar city ordinances, which allowed for the arrest, imprisonment, or fine of "all vagrants, tramps, and confidence men and persons found in said city without visible means of support, or some legitimate business." The Kansas Legislature originally enacted the law in 1881. Governor Lewelling was the first People's Party (Populist) candidate to become governor. Republican opponents of the Populist governor dubbed this letter the "Tramp Circular."

Facilities Management, Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1987
This photograph shows Ted Lutz and Phil Gercky, staff members from the facilities management department of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, sitting on new park benches constructed on the grounds of the clinic.

Facilities Management, Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Bulk 1980-1988
These five photographs show some of the different types of work that facilities management crews accomplished for the patients and staff at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas.

Factory workers, Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas
Date: Between 1950 and 1966
These photographs show workers operating machinery in an unidentified factory in Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas. The machinery includes presses, grinders and welders.

First biennial report of the Industrial Welfare Commission of the State of Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Industrial Welfare Commission
Date: July 1, 1915-June 30, 1917
The Kansas Industrial Welfare Commission was created by the laws of 1915 "to establish such standards of wages, hours, and conditions of labor for women, learners, apprentices and minors employed within the state as shall be held reasonable and not detrimental to health and welfare."

First roustabout gang on Stapleton lease, Butler County, Kansas
Date: April 16, 1916
This photograph shows the six Butler County men who made up the first roustabout gang on the Stapleton oil lease. Top row, left to right: Jim Johnson, Cecil Morgan. Bottom row, left to right: Cal Andrews, Charlie Lee, Jim Chastain, Dick Guthrie. This publication was funded in part by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Frank Olliso, Menninger Clinc, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1960s and 1970s
This photograph shows Frank Olliso from the grounds department of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. Frank was employed from 1959-1977 at the facility.

G. B. Woodford to Governor John Martin
Creator: Woodward, C.B.
Date: April 1, 1886
In this letter, the local authorities of Labette County, Kansas, plead with Kansas governor John Martin for militia support to preserve order in Parsons during the railroad strike of 1886. In February 1885, railroad shop workers walked off the job because of a cut in pay and reduced hours of work. Governor Martin was able to negotiate a settlement to the strike but problems continued throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.

Goodby to holidays with pay
Creator: 2nd District COPE
Date: October 23, 1958
This political advertisement in the Wyandotte Echo sought to defeat the "right to work" amendment to the Kansas state constitution before voters in the November 1958 election. Though carried in 93 of the 105 Kansas counties, the amendment was unpopular in Wyandotte County where it was defeated by nearly 3 to 1.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, applications for employment
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to applications of employment within the State of Kansas. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.