Labor Archives and Research Center (San Francisco State University)

Labor Archives and Research Center (San Francisco State University)
Name	Labor Archives and Research Center
Established	1982
Location	San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California
Type	Archives, Research Center
Collections	Labor movement archives, oral histories, organizational records
Director	Unknown

Contents

Labor Archives and Research Center (San Francisco State University)

The Labor Archives and Research Center (LARC) at San Francisco State University preserves documentary records relating to labor and social movements, linking collections with research on figures such as Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Harry Bridges, Earl Warren, and Tom Mooney. The center holds materials that illuminate campaigns involving United Farm Workers, American Federation of Labor, Congress of Industrial Organizations, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and Service Employees International Union, supporting scholarship connected to events like the Delano grape strike, the San Francisco general strike of 1934, and the Civil Rights Movement.

History

LARC was founded in 1982 amid activism connected to leaders including Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Rose Pesotta, Norman Thomas, A. Philip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin and institutions such as San Francisco State University itself, the California Labor Federation, the Alameda Labor Council, and the National Labor Relations Board. Early development drew on donations from organizations like the United Packinghouse Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and labor scholars affiliated with Harold Meyerson, Eric Hobsbawm, Herbert Gutman, David Montgomery, and Nelson Lichtenstein. Over decades LARC responded to preservation needs arising from episodes including the Farm Worker Movement, the Teamsters strikes, the Longshore Strike of 1934, and litigation before the National Labor Relations Board.

The center's holdings include archives from unions such as United Food and Commercial Workers, AFSCME, United Auto Workers, Teachers Union (AFT), and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, along with records from advocacy organizations like Asian Law Caucus, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, United Farm Workers, and National Organization for Women. Personal papers document the lives of activists including Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Harry Bridges, Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Ella Baker, and Grace Lee Boggs, while oral histories feature interviews with participants in the Delano grape strike, the San Francisco general strike of 1934, the Free Speech Movement, and the Chicano Movement. The repository houses multimedia from events such as the Alcatraz occupation, the Watts riots, and the Stonewall riots, plus photographs, posters, pamphlets, ephemera, contract negotiations, collective bargaining agreements, grievance files, and correspondence tied to campaigns like the Justice for Janitors movement and the Civil Rights Act (1964) era organizing.

LARC offers research assistance to scholars, students, and journalists investigating figures like Angela Davis, Walter Reuther, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and organizations like United Farm Workers, SEIU, AFL–CIO, and ILWU. Educational programs include exhibits on subjects such as the Delano grape strike, the San Francisco general strike of 1934, the Free Speech Movement, and the Teach-in movement, plus workshops in archival techniques led by curators with ties to institutions like Library of Congress, Bancroft Library, and Smithsonian Institution. The center facilitates internships connecting students with faculty from San Francisco State University, visiting scholars from University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and community historians associated with Asian American Studies Center, Labor Notes, and Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.

Scholarly output tied to LARC informs monographs and articles on leaders such as Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Harry Bridges, A. Philip Randolph, and Earl Warren, and contributes to journals including Labor History, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, and American Historical Review. The center supports student theses supervised by faculty from San Francisco State University, collaborative projects with researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of California, Berkeley, and publishes guides, bibliographies, and digital exhibits focusing on episodes like the Delano grape strike and the San Francisco general strike of 1934. LARC's oral history transcripts augment studies by scholars such as David Montgomery, Nelson Lichtenstein, Melvyn Dubofsky, and Alice Kessler-Harris.

LARC partners with labor organizations including California Federation of Teachers, California Labor Federation, ILWU, UAW, and community groups such as Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Chicana/o Studies programs to host public programs on anniversaries of the Delano grape strike, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the San Francisco general strike of 1934. Collaborations extend to cultural institutions like Museum of the City of San Francisco, Oakland Museum of California, and California Historical Society for rotating exhibitions, and to media outlets including Pacifica Radio and KQED for oral history broadcasts and documentary projects.

Governance integrates archivists and faculty from San Francisco State University with advisory input from representatives of California Labor Federation, AFL–CIO, SEIU, and community activists connected to United Farm Workers and ILWU. Funding comes from university allocations, grants from foundations such as Ford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and donations from unions including AFL–CIO, SEIU, UAW, and private benefactors tied to labor scholarship. Endowments and project-specific awards have supported digitization efforts in partnership with institutions like Library of Congress and California State Library.

Category:Archives in California Category:Labor history