Research: Topics: Business & Labor: Working Lives
Working Lives
General Wage Investigation Records
A3011. Wage Investigation Planning and Research Files, 1913- 1914. 1.8 cubic feet.
Arrangement: By topic or activity.
These files contain correspondence, memoranda, minutes of staff meetings, staff reports, questionnaires and responses, research notes and rough statistical tables, and draft copies of forms relating to the Wage Investigation. The files include minutes of staff planning meetings; summary reports on staff work; reports on interviews with employers and employees; lists of firms investigated; statistical data compiled from employee questionnaires; reports of the Commission counsel; announcements and agendas for public hearings; transcripts of portions of hearings (no dates or locations given); drafts of data collection card forms and samples of forms used in similar investigations in other states; blank job application forms from various businesses; correspondence regarding plans for the investigation; research notes and reports for general studies of wages and working conditions in wood, pipe, and umbrella manufacturing industries, which were not part of the in-depth investigation; and responses to questionnaires sent to labor representatives, economists, lawyers, and other professionals.
Available on microfilm.
A3007. Establishment Survey Assignment Cards, 1913-1914. .1 cubic foot. (ca. 750 cards)
Arrangement: By industry, then by location, then alphabetical by firm name.
Staff recorded their appointments to conduct surveys on these cards. The cards have information on: owner's name; establishment name; address; establishment code number; date of scheduled visit (occasionally marked cancelled, noting reason); and agent assigned.
Finding aids: List of establishments by number.
A3008. Staff Daily Work Reports, 1913-1914. .3 cubic foot. (ca. 1400 cards)
Arrangement: Roughly alphabetical by last name, then reverse chronological order.
Field and office staff used these cards to report: establishment visits (if applicable); kind of work done; and expenses (e.g. postage, carfare).
Available on microfilm.
A3010. Lists of Businesses, Occupations, and Code Numbers Used in the Wage Investigation, ca. 1913-1914. .1 cubic foot.
Arrangement: Arranged roughly by type of business or type of occupation.
These are handwritten and typed lists of establishments and occupations. Establishment lists provide: code number; name; address or city; and number of various card forms completed or which card forms were completed for each establishment. Occupation lists provide: industry (e.g. department stores); general type of work (e.g. office, stock and sales); occupations under each general type of work (e.g. under office: stenographer, bookkeeper, etc.); and sometimes occupation code numbers (added to Employee Background and Wage Data Cards, forms #2 and #2A, series A3000, General Wage Investigation Data Cards). These notes provide agents with information on the recording and coding of business establishments and occupations. The series also contains a report on candy manufacturing work done by men or women and the wages paid for each type of work.
A3000. General Wage Investigation Data Cards, 1912-1914. 14 cubic feet. (ca. 70,000 cards)
Arrangement: By subseries according to type of data card. Most subseries are arranged numerically by business establishment identification number.
Field agents interviewed employees and employers and consulted company records to compile information entered on one or more of twelve card forms. According to Commission records, over 200,000 data cards were filled out. Of these, only about 70,000 remain. Most of the cards contain information relating to New York City area factory employees; relatively few data cards remain from outside the City.
The cards are arranged in seven subseries, each of which is briefly described below. Additional information about the General Wage Investigation, including a detailed description of how the cards were used to compile and collate data into statistical reports, is contained in the Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, Volume II, Appendix IV: Report of the Wage Investigation, pages 1-50.
Subseries 1. Employee Background Cards, 1913-1914. ca. 6,700 cards.
Arrangement: By business establishment identification number.
These cards (designated form #1 and form #1A) contain information on an individual employee's personal background, work experience, and housing arrangements. Form #1 was used in New York City. Form #1A, revised to provide more specific information on housing arrangements, was used upstate. Although 87,011 cards were originally compiled, only about 6,700 remain. Most of the extant cards relate to New York City employees.
Subseries 2. Employee Background and Wage Data Cards, 1913- 1914. ca. 50,000 cards.
Arrangement: By business establishment identification number.
Field agents compiled employee background data or transferred all background information from forms #1 and #1A to these cards (which were designated forms #2 and #2A) and then used company payroll records to enter each employee's pay rate, number of hours worked weekly, and total weekly earnings. As in subseries 1, forms #2 and #2A differed in the specificity of information about housing arrangements in New York City or upstate areas. Only about 50,000 cards remain from among 104,516 originally compiled. Most of the extant cards relate to New York City employees.
Subseries 3. Individual Annual Earnings Cards, 1912. ca. 2,400 cards.
Arrangement: By business establishment number, then by employee number.
These cards (form #5) contain the following information compiled by agents from company payroll records: employee's occupation; pay rate; days and hours worked weekly; weeks worked per year; total annual earnings; and average weekly earnings. Of 6,172 cards originally compiled for selected employees in all four industries, only 2,400 remain from New York City confectionery factories.
Subseries 4. Individual Estimated Annual Earnings Cards, 1912- 1914. ca. 2,900 cards.
Arrangement: By business establishment number.
These cards (form #7) were used to compile employee wage information for companies lacking adequate payroll records to fill out Individual Annual Earnings Cards. Agents checked off the weeks during a year when a person was employed, and then entered the pay rate and earnings for the first and last weeks. Of 6,900 cards originally completed, only about 2,900 remain, primarily from New York City confectionery and paper box factories.
Subseries 5. Individual Employment and Financial History Cards, 1913-1914. ca. 5,100 cards.
Arrangement: By type of card (employment history and financial history) and then by industry.
These cards were filled out by agents who interviewed a sample of employees selected to represent all workers in certain branches in an industry or to represent all workers of a certain age group or wage level in each industry. Two cards were filled out for each selected employee. The first card (form #8, Employment History Card) contains information on work history and on work hours and wages. The second card (form #9, Financial History Card) contains information about job training, personal expenses, and personal and family income sources. Together, the two cards were used to compile a detailed description of the financial circumstances of selected employee groups. All cards in this group have survived.
Subseries 6. Cards Distributed to Clients by Social Welfare Agencies, 1913-1914. 87 forms (cards and paper forms).
Arrangement: By social welfare agency.
The Commission asked agencies such as settlement houses, church organizations, schools, and consumer league offices to assist in collecting data. These agencies distributed a card (form #10) to their clients or members who were employed by one of the four industries. The cards contain entries for information about work history, wages, and personal and family income and expenses. Although thousands of forms were distributed, so few were returned that the Commission decided not to use the data.
Subseries 7. Business Establishment Profile Cards, 1912-1914. ca. 3,800 cards.
Arrangement: By business establishment identification number.
Agents used four card forms to record information about each business establishment that was a subject of the investigation. The cards for each business establishment were kept together to provide a complete profile of the site. The information entered on each card was as follows:
a. Wage Classification Cards (Form #3): rates of pay for each occupation in the firmb. Hours of Work Cards (Form #4): information on working hours for each occupation or department in the firm
c. Wages and Number of Employees Cards (Form #6): weekly averages and totals of wages paid to all employees for one year
d. Supplemental Cards (Form #12): information or comments gathered from interviews with employers concerning:
- quality of employer's record keeping
- products manufactured
- rate of employee turnover
- number of male and female employees and salary ranges
- rates of pay by occupation
- bonus and promotion practices
- working conditions
- employer's cooperation in investigation
- lists of ephemera collected at the establishment: report forms, time cards, application forms, rule books, brochures, catalogs
Profile cards exist for almost all of the establishments visited. Often there are only two or three of the four card forms for a business establishment, but the Supplemental Cards exist for most establishments.
Indexes: List of establishments by number.
Available on microfilm.
A3014. Establishment Financial Analysis Reports for the Wage Investigation, 1912-1913. .2 cubic foot.
Arrangement: By industry, then alphabetical by establishment name.
Field agents prepared financial statements for a number of establishments. The reports, based on information obtained by discussions with company representatives and studies of company records, were used to help determine whether industries were able to increase wages. Financial statements contain information on: gross revenue; manufacturing costs; selling expenses; other expenses; and net profit. Some reports include schedules providing details on: net sales; miscellaneous earnings (e.g. interest income); labor costs; other manufacturing costs; selling expenses; office expenses; and other expenses. Transmittal letters from field agents to the Commission contain additional information on: name of firm; availability and sources of information; and comments on the accuracy of figures supplied by the firm.
Available on microfilm.
A3009. Statistical Tables Compiled for Report on Wage Investigation, 1914. 13 cubic feet.
These are tables compiled from data cards collected by field agents providing statistical information on employees in various firms or industries studied in the Wage Investigation. Each table provides employee statistics compiled according to various combinations of the following variables: wages, age, sex, years worked for wages, years worked in trade, years worked in firm, if native or foreign-born, occupation, days and hours worked, marital status, and living arrangements (e.g. if boarding, retired, private home). Sample blanks of these tables, some numbered differently, are published in Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, Vol. II, pp. 29-46 (1915).
A3032. Charts, Graphs, and Tables Prepared for Publication in the Commission's Reports, 1913-1914. 4 cubic feet.
Arrangement: Arranged by the order items appear in published reports.
Manuscript worksheets, mockups, and proofs provide statistics and trends in wages, hours, and employment practices in industries studied by the Commission. These were prepared for, and most were published in, either the Third Report of the Factory Investigating Commission (1914) or the Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission (1915).
The series includes charts, graphs, and tables concerning the mercantile, shirt, paper box, confectionery, and millinery industries; mockups of charts published in "The Relation of Irregular Employment to the Living Wage for Women" in Volume II of the Fourth Report; and tables 53-228 (p. 757-1030) of the statistical tables published in Volume III (Appendix V) of the Fourth Report.
A3030. Notes and Tables for a Study on "Dependence and Wages," 1914. .2 cubic foot.
These records document the preparation of a report on the relationship between wages and dependence on charity. The Charity Organization Society, the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the United Hebrew Charities (all in Manhattan), and the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities transcribed case file records created from January through March 1914 onto cards (Form #11; no original cards extant) supplied by the Commission.
This series contains the following records created using those data cards: manuscript draft of "Dependence and Wages" discussing method of investigation and significant data in the statistical tables drawn from the data cards; rough notes outlining variables and data on the statistical tables; and statistical tables (drafts and final manuscripts) detailing the relationship of such variables as gender, occupation, size of family, number of wage earners per family, weekly income when family takes in boarders, etc. Apparently no final report was produced, and the study was not discussed in the Commission's published reports.
