Research: Topics: Business & Labor: Working Lives

Working Lives

General Administrative Records

A3019. Correspondence of the Commission, 1912-1916, bulk 1913-1915. 3 cubic feet.

Arrangement: Chronological within record type.

This series consists of incoming and outgoing letters, memoranda, and telegrams relating to the Commission's administrative activities, plans for and methodology of investigations, and proposed solutions to the problems under investigation. Correspondents include government agencies, businessmen and organizations, employee and civic groups, and various subject experts. Correspondence concerns: fire prevention and fire exits; building inspections; Labor Law violations; methods of determining workers' "real earning capacity," i.e. value added to the product by their labor; and opinions of proprietors in states with minimum wage laws on the value of such laws and their effect on business and employees.

Available on microfilm.

A3018. Financial Records of the Commission, 1912-1914. 2 cubic feet. (7 volumes)

Arrangement: By record type (e.g. vouchers, ledgers), then chronological.

This series contains vouchers, typed financial statements, and ledgers, recording expenses of the Commission for: salaries; office supplies; rent; and travel. The records generally provide information on: payment date; to whom paid; purpose of payment; and amount paid. Two of the ledgers also provide lists of employees' names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Available on microfilm.

A3022. Press Releases Concerning Commission Hearings or Statements, 1914-1915. .1 cubic foot.

These press releases, mostly undated, announce hearings on: proposed Labor Law recodification--manufacturers, real estate owners, and workers were invited to testify; fire hazards in stores; and wage legislation. Some press releases are statements of the Commission's Chief Counsel Abram I. Elkus and Chairman Robert F. Wagner concerning: the difficulty and necessity of enforcing laws relating to factories and stores; and owners' complaints of multiple building inspections by various agencies (e.g. Fire Department, Building Department, Health Department).

Available on microfilm.

A3023. Press Clippings Concerning Commission Activities, 1911, 1913-1914. .1 cubic foot.

Arrangement: Chronological.

These clippings from news and trade publications concern: scheduled hearings; hearings held in Schenectady, Troy, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, often quoting or summarizing testimony given at the hearings; witnesses testifying at the hearings; descriptions of the Commission's investigation of factory and store health and safety conditions, wages, and cost of living; and descriptions of actual conditions in factories and stores relating to danger from unguarded machinery, inadequate fire escapes and fire prevention, inadequate sanitation, ventilation, and lighting, low wages, child labor, and night work.

Available on microfilm.