The collection consists of records, primarily minutes, of the Bookbinders and Bindery Women's Union, Local 31-125 and its predecessors. The collection also includes bank records, dance cards and banquet programs, arbitration agreements, and constitutions and by- laws. The records date primarily from 1902 to 1970. This was originally two unions, one for men and one for women, which joined in 1917. The records, especially those that deal with the merger, give valuable information on gender-related labor issues such as the lives of working women, and the relative power of women in consolidated unions.

Prior to 1917, two separate unions existed. The Bindery Women's Union Local 125 organized in 1902. The International Brotherhood of Bookbinders Local 31 traces its genesis back to the Journeymen Bookbinders' Association of the Pacific Coast adopting its first Constition and By-laws in 1875. In July 1917 their merger formed one union, the Bookbinders and Bindery Women's Union, Local 31-125. The men's local included these skills: book binders, paper rulers, paper cutters, and folding machine operators. Women did only bookbinding except for bronze work. The Bindery Workers Union Local 21, of Palo Alto, CA, organized in 1947 representing Stanford University Press employees. Local 21 voted to merge with Local 31-125 in 1969.

6.25 cubic ft. (5 boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research.