The History of Labor in Idaho

Minutes from the first meeting in 1890, From the Boise City Typographical Union Records

Labor Day receives much national attention, but what about the history of labor in Idaho? Special Collections and Archives has several collections that help document this history. 

Boise City Typographical Union Records: In 1890, there were three daily newspapers in Boise, at least two printing shops, and enough individual members of the International Typographical Union working in the city to form the nucleus of a union local. They applied to the ITU for a charter, which was granted in November 1890.

Morrison-Knudsen Company Labor Relations Records: Morrison-Knudsen (also known as M-K) was an engineering and construction firm founded in Boise in 1912. M-K is mostly known for their participation in the construction of the Hoover Dam, San Francisco Bay Bridge, Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center and 153 miles of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.

Henry K. Doll Correspondence with the Banner Mining and Milling Company: 80 handwritten letters and a few printed documents received by Henry K. Doll between 1909 and 1923 relating to the operation of the Banner Mine, a silver mine in Silver City, Idaho, operated by the Banner Mining and Milling Company of Silver City and Boise.

Several politicians had involvement in labor relations, including U.S. Senator Len Jordan, Idaho Congressman Larry LaRocco, Governor Cecil Andrus, and U.S. Senator Frank Church. We also have collections about Idaho farmworkers, including the Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project and Patricia K. Ourada Collection on Migrant Workers in Idaho.

For more information about Special Collections and Archives, please visit our website: http://library.boisestate.edu/Special/.

Cheryl Oestreicher,
Head, Special Collections and Archives