Sources for the history of the building and construction industry

Abstract

This article is a plea for changes in the way we tell the history of work in America. The full story of the labor history of the construction industry is not contained in trade union records. To fully understand the context of work and conflict, historians need to look to corporate records, government records, oral histories, and other sources that can provide important documentation of work relations and technological change. If the construction industry is understood as a complex and changing entity, its trade union politics, discrimination, and the political battles surrounding the transformation of neighborhoods and modern life can become part of the larger story of the dynamic of development rather than merely a story of workplace antagonisms.

Notes

 US Bureau of the Census, ‘2002 Manual, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)—United States 2002’ was developed in cooperation with the US Economic Classification Policy Committee, Statistics Canada, and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Georgrafia e Informatica to provide compatible statistics for business and construction activity in North America. See <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html>. Lindner, Projecting Capitalism

 The literature is vast. See for example, Freeman, Working Class New York; Fitch, The Assassination of New York

 Tobin, Great Projects. Notable exceptions are Willis, Form Follows Finance and corporate histories such as Wolfe, Turner Construction Company

 <http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/about.cfm>

 For example, Slayton, Reinforced Concrete; Koeppel, Water for Gotham

 For example, Waldinger and Bailey, ‘The Continuing Significance of Race;’ Hill, ‘The Construction Industry;’ Sewell, ‘Contracting Racial Equality;’ Darton, Divided We Stand

 Debra Bernhardt and Rachel Bernstein, eds, ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: An Assessment of Archival Sources Documenting 20th Century New York City Social History’ (Wagner Labor Archives, 1994). Collecting was done with funds from NHRPC Grants called ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives—Labor,’ II and III, 1998–2002

 For a comparison of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which replaced the US Standard Industrial Classification system (SIC) in 2002, see <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html>

 ‘Building Zone Plan: Map Designations and Map Designation Rules’ (adopted 25 July 1916); ‘Construction Schedule for Arterial Highways and Parkways: New York City,’ 26 November 1945

 ‘Report of the Task Force on Economic Life,’ in Bernhardt and Bernstein, ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives,’ 91–92.

 Ibid., 57

 Ingle and Wall, ‘Sources for Conducting Documentary Research.’

 Thanks to the following people for sharing their favorite sources: Grace Palladino, editor, Samuel Gompers Papers; Jane LaTour, Associate Editor, SEIU News, former editor, Hard Hat News; Nancy Banks, PhD candidate, Columbia University; Kristin McDonough, Director, and John V. Ganly, Assistant Director for SIBL Collections, Science, Industry and Business Library, New York Public Library; Richard Strassberg, Kheel Center for Labor–Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University; Carol Willis, Director, the Skyscraper Museum; Don Friedman, Structural Engineer for Historic Preservation and member, General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen; John Pierce, former executive director, Morgan Stanley; Frederick Grevin and Sumer Quandil, Archives of the Department of Environmental Protection, New York City; Marilyn Pettit, Vice President for Collections, the Brooklyn Historical Society

 Exceptions include Linder, Projecting Capitalism, and Slaton, Reinforced Concrete

 Browning, ‘Nuggets Mined from the Corporate Past.’

 Examples of labor historians who study corporate development include Green, Race on the Line, and Jones, Industrial Labor in the Colonial World, which is a history of railroad construction