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Finding Aid for the Buffalo Musicians' Association Records, 1889-2009Mus. Arc. 24State University of New York at Buffalo. Music Library112 Baird Hall Buffalo, New York 14260-4750 United States Phone: 716 645-2924 Fax: 716 645-3906 Email: musique@buffalo.edu URL: http://library.buffalo.edu/music/ © 2009. State University of New York at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
Information for UsersPreferred Citation[Specified item], Buffalo Musicians' Association Records, 1889-2009, Music Library, The State University of New York at Buffalo. Terms of Access and UseMaterials can be examined by qualified researchers in the Music Library during hours of operation during which Music Librarians are present. In order to insure access, researchers are advised to contact the Music Library in advance of visits. CopyrightCopyright for the materials in the collection does not reside with the Music Library. Therefore, patrons wishing to publish any item, or part of an item from this collection for any purpose, are responsible for securing requisite permissions. Administrative InformationAcquisition InformationGift of the Buffalo Musicians' Union, 2003. Accruals and AdditionsFurther accruals are expected on a regular basis. Processing InformationProcessed by Kristen Rinaldo; completed by Ilana Tolkoff. Historical NoteIn 1886, the National League of Musicians (NLM) was founded and had over 100 locals within ten years. One of these was Local 23 of Buffalo. A few years later, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) began organizing locals with the view of musicians as workers, contrary to the NLM view of musicians as artists. By 1896, members of the NLM grew dissatisfied and formed the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), which was, and still is, chartered by the AFL. In the very early days of the AFM, Buffalo's Local 23 began to discuss joining the AFM and then consequently became AFM Local 43. The NLM dissolved over the first few years of the 1900s. As was customary for many AFM locals in the country, there were two racially segregated locals in Buffalo. The Buffalo Colored Musicians' Union, Local 533 was founded in 1917. It existed as a separate entity from Local 43, although logistical complications arose as more bands became racially integrated. In the 1960s, it was clear that a merger of the two locals would make business much more practical. In 1964, AFM President Herbert Kenin mandated that all racially segregated AFM locals merge. Difficulties arose, however, in getting Locals 43 and 533 to reach a merger agreement. Local 533 was particularly reluctant because this meant being absorbed into a union nine times their size, possibly losing their real estate, losing their elected officers, and having all their funds absorbed into the large account of the merged local's money. These were valid concerns, as many other black AFM locals had faced these setbacks in their mergers. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 ruled that there could be no segregated union locals, but this did not require the locals to merge. It simply meant that a person of any race could join either local. In fact, Local 533 had two white members after this. By the end of 1967, Local 533 drew up a merger agreement with the help of AFM officials. The members of Local 533 voted for it, but then Local 43 voted against it. In the fall of 1968, after having warned the locals on multiple occasions, AFM President Kenin finally stepped in and mandated a non-negotiable Plan of Merger. The new merged local would be designated Local 92, and the Plan's stipulations were a reasonably fair compromise. While Local 533 members were somewhat unhappy about the loss of their local, and while integration was not entirely smooth, the merger ultimately worked out in the long run. Local 92 is still a diverse and active organization. This collection also contains some records from Local 649, which was the Hamburg Musicians' Association. This local was absorbed into Local 92 in 1999, as many considered it inconvenient to have such a fragmentation of locals in Western New York. Background information found in the following sources: Loft, Abram. "Unions, musicians'" in The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. London: Macmillan, 1986. McRae, Richard Kenneth. Musicians' Association Local 533 of the American Federation of Musicians, and its Role in the Development of Black Music in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo, N.Y., 1993. Scope and Content NoteThe Buffalo Musicians' Association Records contain materials dating from 1889, from the days when it was Local 23 of the National League of Musicians. This local continued on as Local 43 of the American Federation of Musicians. The collection also contains records dating from 1923 from the Buffalo Colored Musicians Union, Local 533. When these two locals merged in 1969, they became Local 92, which still exists today. The collection contains Local 92's records up to the present. The collection also contains some records of Local 649, Hamburg, NY (which merged with Local 92 in 1999), as well as some general AFM material. The collection's materials are in the form of meeting minutes, financial records, correspondence, wage scales, directories, constitutions, by-laws, news clippings, attendance records, as well as the official stamp of Local 43. ArrangementThe label "item" has been used to sequentially number this collection. It may indicate either a single bound volume or a folder with multiple leaves. The collection is arranged in three series, with subseries as indicated:
Series I.
Local 43
A. Board Meeting Minutes
B. Record Books: Meeting Attendance
C. Member Directory
D. Financial Books
E. Directory and Wage Scale Books
F. Official Stamp
G. Correspondence
Series II.
Local 533
A. General Meeting Minutes
B. Board Meeting Minutes
C. Correspondence
D. News Clippings
E. Directory and Wage Scale Books
F. Attendance Records
Series III.
Local 92
A. Meeting Minutes
B. Correspondence
C. Receipts
D. Directory and Wage Scale Books
E. Directory and Instrumentation Books
F. Constitution and By-Laws
G. Price Lists
H. Directory, Instrumentation, Constitution, By-Laws, and
Price List
Container List
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