Minutes, membership meeting, 1902-1907

The Records, 1899-1977 (predominantly 1899-1956) of Carpenters Local 256 (Savannah, GA) comprise minutes, financial documents, legal papers, correspondence and printed items. The minutes of local 256 incorporate those of predecessor Locals 1847 and 1826 and constitute the bulk of the Records. They reflect the wide range of the local's concerns: full employment for its members, especially at the Savannah Gypsum Plant, airport and Shipyards, Parris Island, and Hinesville, GA; advising carpenters not to go to Tampa in 1904 to break a strike there; attempts in 1943 by the War Manpower Board to freeze carpenters on their jobs; an unpopular plan by the WMB in 1945 to use German prisoners of war in Savannah plants; charges against members of violating union rules; care for sick members; vocational training; establishment of a statewide wage scale for carpenters in 1945; and activities with the Carpenters District and State Councils and the Savannah Trades and Labor Assembly. Cooperation across craft lines is illustrated by a 1931 agreement among the Carpenters, Electricians, and Bricklayers. The Records include minutes of Carpenters District Council No. 1 (Savannah), 1910-1913.