XIV. GENERAL REFERENCE FILES OF GEORGE L-P. WEAVER, ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT, 1958-1960

Arranged alphabetically by subject

Consists of Weaver's correspondence and reference files generated and maintained during his tenure as an assistant to Carey from 1958-1960. These files chiefly document Weaver's work as Director of the IUE's Political Education Program (COPE), IUE liaison with civil rights leaders and organizations, and as an advisor to Carey on international labor affairs. Weaver reported on key developments involving civil rights and frequently served as Carey's designated representative to civil rights conferences. The series also incorporates a smaller quantity of Weaver's personal office records encapsulating his activities outside the realm of the IUE during the period 1953-1960. These document his activities and service with the following organizations, institutions, and agencies: President's Committee on Government Contracts: United Transport and Service Employees Union: Americans For Democratic Action; Democratic National Party Committee; AFL Civil Rights Department; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU); and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conference. Contents include: correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, reports, speeches, research data and material, publications, press releases, newsletters, newspaper clippings, campaign literature, and legal documents.

Weaver's role as administrator for the IUE's political action programs is well-documented within this series. His functions included oversight of the collection of COPE funds from districts and locals; distribution of campaign money to candidates; coordination of the IUE's political education programs in conjunction with the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department (IUD); and the direction of outreach political activities with the Democratic National Committee, liberal organizations (ADA, NAACP) and the respective campaign staffs of candidates.

Weaver's correspondence and memoranda document his activities during the 1958 off-year elections and the 1960 Democratic Party primaries and national election. Correspondents include IUE department heads and staff members, AFL-CIO COPE Director James McDevitt, and prominent political figures--John F. Kennedy, Hubert H. Humphrey, Stuart Symington, Paul Douglas, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Particularly insightful is Carey's and Weaver's early endorsement of Senator Stuart Symington (D-Missouri) for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and their subsequent shift to John F. Kennedy following Symington's poor showing in the early primaries. This portion of the series chronicles the IUE's role and commitment toward inclusion of a strong civil rights plank in the 1960 Democratic Party Platform. Weaver's contacts with prominent civil rights leaders and organizations, labor union civil rights committee representatives, and members of the National Democratic Party Committee provided important bureaucratic leverage in the eventual adoption of forceful legislative initiatives by the Democrats.

Weaver's reference files contain correspondence and research material relating to IUE legislative and lobbying efforts on labor and civil rights bills. Labor's opposition to "right to work" legislation and the interjection of that issue into the 1958 congressional elections is well documented within the series. Weaver compiled research data on voting records and collated primary source material relating to proposed labor-reform legislation during the late 1950s. Several of his correspondence and subject files constitute important sources for analysis of organized labor's efforts to frame moderate bills (Kennedy-Ives Bill and Kennedy-Ervin Bill) and subsequent opposition to the Landrum-Griffin Act.

Weaver, a committed civil rights activist, maintained close ties to influential leaders and organizations within the movement. These relationships are reflected in his correspondence to representatives of the NAACP, the National Urban League, the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Correspondents include Herbert Hill, Roy Wilkins, A.Philip Randolph, Edwin C. Berry, and Jackie Robinson. Topics include: the handling and expedition of discrimination cases before the President's Committee on Government Contracts; the proposed Civil Rights Bill of 1959; enforcement of fair employment practices and fair housing provisions; educational conferences on human relations from 1953-1960. The series also contains Weaver's speeches and reports presented at various conference and educational workshop sessions, as well as personal copies of agenda, proceedings, and publications.

Within the labor movement Weaver corresponded with key AFL-CIO officials and union representatives in charge of civil rights committees and educational programs. Among his associates were Walter and Victor Reuther, William H. Oliver (Co-Director, UAW/AFL-CIO Fair Employment Practices and Anti-Discrimination Department), and Boris Shiskin (Director, AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department). Weaver apprised them on the status of legislative initiatives and pending discrimination cases involving AFL-CIO and IUD affiliates. Discrimination practiced by the building and construction trades employed on federal housing projects within Washington, D.C. emerged as a paramount issue confronting civil rights supporters within the AFL-CIO. That issue is well-documented within this series. Duplicate correspondence and overlapping subject content can be found in the President's Committee on Government Contracts Files subseries of Weaver's Personal Reference Files.

Weaver's special interest in international labor affairs is reflected in much of his personal correspondence dating from 1958-1960--following his affiliation with the ICFTU and ILO. He monitored international labor developments and maintained contact with ICFTU officials, foreign service officers, and representatives of foreign trade unions and international labor federations. Correspondents include Walter Reuther, Victor Reuther, Michael Ross (AFL-CIO Director for International Affairs), Alvin Ruck, C.H. Millard, Thomas Bavin, Ong Yoke Lin (Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Malaya), and P.P. Narayanan (President, National Union of Plantation Workers, Malaya). Major subjects covered include: the internal AFL-CIO debate over funding and support of ICFTU and ILO programs; the emerging African labor movement and communism; organization of labor unions in Singapore and Malaya; and efforts to construct an international labor federation representing plantation workers. Weaver functioned as Carey's key advisor on foreign labor issues often and represented the IUE and AFL-CIO at international labor conferences. He also hosted visiting labor dignitaries and foreign trade union delegations. Weaver's reference and correspondence files documented the IUE's ideological and financial commitment to the establishment of the ICFTU as a bulwark against communist infiltration of free democratic unions abroad.