East Tennessee State University
Archives of Appalachia
Box 70295
Johnson City, Tennessee 37614
E-mail: archives@etsu.edu
Telephone: (423) 439-4338
INTRODUCTION
Title: Kingsport Press Strike Collection
Collection Number: Accession No. 152
Physical Description: 0.5 linear foot; 1 Hollinger box; 2 cassette audiotapes
Creator: Dale Larkin
Repository: Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Provenance: The Kingsport Press Strike Collection was compiled by Dale Larkin, a union correspondent, during the Kingsport Press strike, Kingsport, Tennessee, between 1963 and 1967. The papers were donated to the Archives of Appalachia by Dale Larkin in March 1983 and opened to researchers April 27, 1990.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processing Information: Scott Schwartz, Dawn Gentry and A.Kilgore completed processing in April 1990.
HISTORICAL NOTE
George L. Carter, a land purchasing entrepreneur, believed Kingsport, Tennessee could become a "model industrial city" if the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway extended its line from Johnson City, Tennessee to Kingsport. Extension of the CC&O rail line from Johnson City north through Kingsport began in 1905 and was completed by 1915. Once the extension of the CC&O line had been completed, John B. Dennis, John Nolan, Col. James Blair, and Joseph Sears envisioned the construction of a book manufacturing plant in Kingsport that was capable of producing inexpensive books, publications that could be "purchased by anyone."
The planning and early construction of the Kingsport Press began in 1919 and was completed sometime during the early 1920s. The principle products of the Kingsport Press were textbooks, reference books, Bibles, religious books and juvenile-adult trade books. During the 1950s, the company became the largest complete book manufacturing firm in the world.
In 1933 three unions were established at the Kingsport Press to protect the rights of its employees; these were the International Printing Press Union, International Stereotypers and Electrotypers Union, and the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders Union. These unions went on strike March 11, 1963 to demand increased wages, a reduced work week, and improved vacation benefits from company management. However, after four years of unsuccessful deliberations between the company's arbitrators and its unions, the strike ended April 28, 1967 with a disbanding of the unions. At the present time the Kingsport Press is owned by Arcata Graphics.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Kingsport Press Strike Collection contains correspondence, reports, pamphlets, photocopies of articles taken from commercial publications, newspaper clippings, speeches, cassette audiotapes, memorabilia, and broadsides documenting the events surrounding the strike between Kingsport Press and its unions between 1961 and 1967. The correspondence and speeches describe events leading up to the strike, chronicles union activities during the strike, and identifies the problems surrounding the unsuccessful resolution of the labor dispute. The reports document specific union issues that served as the progenitors for the strike. The pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and photocopies of articles define the general issues and describe the activities surrounding the Kingsport Press strike. The two 60-minute audio cassette tapes (dated April 27, 1982) contain an interview with Earl Derrick about the Kingsport Press strike.
The collection is divided into four series: Series I, Correspondence, Reports and Speeches, 1963-1965; Series II, Pamphlets and Broadsides, 1963-1965; Series III, Articles, Memorabilia and Newspaper Clippings, 1964-1966; and Series IV, Cassette Tapes, 1982.
Important subjects covered in the collection include:
AFL-CIO
Book industries and trade
Derrick, Earl M.
Graphic Arts International Union
Industries--Tennessee--Kingpsort
International Brotherhood of Bookbinders. Bindery Workers' Union Local No. 82 (Kingsport, Tenn.)
International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America
Kingsport Press
Kingsport Press Strike, Kingsport, Tenn., 1963-
Light, Everett
Strikes and lockouts--Book industries and trade
Tennessee, East--Industries
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Series I, CORRESPONDENCE, REPORTS AND SPEECHES, 1963-1965, Box 1.
Series I contains correspondence, reports and speeches documenting the unions' strike activities and labor disputes with the Kingsport Press, Kingsport, Tennessee, between 1963 and 1967. The records are arranged alphabetically by document type and then chronologically by the first date of each folder's date span.
Series II, PAMPHLETS AND BROADSIDES, 1963-1965, Box 1.Series II contains pamphlets and broadsides advertising the Kingsport Press strike, the unions' strike demands, and the unions' strike activities prior and during the strike. The records are arranged chronologically by the first date of a date span listed on each folder. Undated material is listed at the end of the series.
Series III, ARTICLES, MEMORABILIA AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, 1964-1966, Box 1.
Series III contains photocopies of articles originally published in commercial periodicals, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia documenting the general issues and problems associated with the unsuccessful resolution of the strike between the Kingsport Press and its unions dating from 1964 to 1966. The records are arranged chronologically by the first date of each folder's date span.
Series IV, CASSETTE TAPES, 1982, Box 1.Series IV contains two 60-minute cassette tapes of an interview with Earl Derrick, April 27, 1982, describing the events leading up to the Kingsport Press strike and the negotiating problems experienced by the union and company arbitrators that eventually forced the labor movement to concede defeat in 1967. Earl Derrick's insightful comments clearly outline the gradual demise of the Kingsport Press unions between 1963 and 1967.
Series I, CORRESPONDENCE, REPORTS AND SPEECHES, 1963-1965, Box 1.
Box 1
1. Correspondence: Miscellaneous Union Reports, 1963-65.
2. Correspondence: E. J. Tribe, 1963-67.
3. Correspondence/Flow Chart: C. E. Fritschle, June 8, 1965.
4. Reports: International Brotherhood of Bookbinders Union, 1961-65.
5. Reports: Meeting Minutes of Local #82, 1966-67.
6. Speeches: Earl Derrick, ND.
Series II, PAMPHLETS AND BROADSIDES, 1963-1965, Box 1.
Box 1
7. Pamphlets: Specialty Work of the International Printing Pressman Union, 1963-65.
8. Pamphlets: Kingsport Press Strike, Kingsport, Tennessee, 1963-65.
9. Broadsides: AFL-CIO, ND.
Series III, ARTICLES, MEMORABILIA AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, 1964-1966, Box 1.
Box 1
10. List of Members of the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders Union, Local #82, August 15, 1933.
11. Miscellaneous Pamphlets: Kingsport Press Unions, 1963.
12. Newspaper Clippings: Kingsport Press Unions, 1963-65.
13. Newspaper Clippings: Kingsport Press Unions, 1964-66.
14. Articles: Kingsport Press Unions, 1964-66.
15. Memorabilia, ND.
Series IV, CASSETTE TAPES, 1982, Box 1.
Box 1
16. Earl Derrick Interview-Tape 1, April 27, 1982.
17. Earl Derrick Interview-Tape 2, April 27, 1982.
INDEX TO THE KINGSPORT PRESS STRIKE COLLECTION
AFL-CIO: 1-1, 1-9.
Ayers, R. W.: 1-1, 1-7.
Baker, J. D.: 1-5.
Brown, Robert: 1-5.
Chapman, George: 1-11.
Croker, Sylvia; 1-1.
Crunkleton, Truitt: 1-1.
Derrick, Earl M.: 1-1, 1-6.
Devville, Earl: 1-5.
Fetzer, John: 1-5.
Fitzgerald, Bob: 1-5.
Fritschle, C. E.: 1-3.
Garrison, Lloyd K.: 1-1.
Gompers, Samuel: 1-6.
Graphic Arts International Union: 1-2.
Hill, Patty: 1-1.
Hulse, Tommy: 1-5.
International Brotherhood of Book Binders: 1-4, 1-5, 1-10.
International Printing Pressman Union: 1-1.
Kingsport Press Strike-Event Time Line: 1-1, 1-8.
Larkin, Dale: 1-1, 1-12.
Lewis, Joseph: 1-1.
Light, Everett: 1-2, 1-5.
McCaffrey, Austin J.: 1-1.
McCloud, Bob: 1-5.
McKee, Gene: 1-5.
McMinny, Jerry: 1-5.
Mann, James: 1-12.
Minton: P. F.: 1-4.
Mondlak, Walter: 1-4.
Moses, Emilie: 1-4.
Mowel, Earl: 1-5.
Munson, Robert: 1-4.
National Labor Relations Board: 1-3.
Neumeyer, Jacob: 1-4.
Osborne, Paul: 1-2.
Reese, Hugh: 1-5.
Ridgeway, James: 1-11.
Robinson, B. T.: 1-5.
Royality, Melinda: 1-1.
Smith, Morgan: 1-1.
Smith, W. F.:; 1-1, 1-2.
Stasiak, William: 1-4.
Taylor, Catherine: 1-4.
Triebe, E. J.: 1-2.
Unions and strikes: 1-1 thru 1-5, 1-9, 1-10.
Winter, Edward: 1-1, 1-3.
MTC 11/00