United Mine Workers of America

  • Also Known As: University Club

  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

Beginning in 1937, this building served as the headquarters of the United Mine Workers of America union (UMW) that was associated with the rise of organized labor following the Congressional passage of pro-labor acts in the mid 1930s. Before and after World War II, the UMW was able to negotiate for higher wages, safer working conditions (including the Federal Mine Safety Act in 1952) and the creation of industry funded health and retirement benefits between 1945-1950. These goals became standard in contract negotiations between unions and management and served to lift millions of blue-collar workers into the middle class. This building was also home to the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from 1937 to 1940. This federation of unions, funded by the UMW in its formative years, covered the previously unrepresented mass-production workers, a segment of the work force that became the labor movement's most important constituency during the 1950s and 1960s, when working class Americans made their largest economic gains. From this building, formidable labor organizer John L Lewis oversaw the UMW for more than two decades and founded and presided over the Congress of Industrial Organizations from 1937 to 1940. The increase in union membership that Lewis promoted, his leadership in charting the paths of contract negotiation, and his presence in Washington influenced relations between labor, capital, and government during the country's post-WWII economic boom. - NRHP, 5 April 2005


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
George Oakley Totten Architect
Irwin Stevens Porter Architect
1912/00/00
1937/00/00 John L Lewis Home Office of John L Lewis 1937-1940

Data »

Particulars for United Mine Workers of America:
Area of Significance Architecture
Criteria Architecture-Engineering
Sight Category Building
Criteria Historic Event
Art Movement Italian Renaissance Revival
Historic Use Meeting hall
Criteria Person
Area of Significance Politics-government
Owner Private
Area of Significance Social History



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration: 13th September 2000

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name: United Mine Workers of America
Registry Address: 900 Fifteenth St. NW
Registry Number: 00001032
Resource Type: Building
Owner: Private
Architect: Totten, George Oakley; Porter, Irwin Stevens, et al.
Architectural Style: Other
Attribute: Italian Renaissance Revival
Contributing Buildings: 1
Other Certification: Date received-pending nomination, Designated National Landmark
Certification: Listed in the National Register
Nominator Name: National Historic Landmark
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: Local
Area of Significance: Social history, Architecture, Politics-government
Applicable Criteria: Event, Person, Architecture-Engineering
Significant Year: 1912, 1936
Associated People: Lewis, John L.
Historic Function: Social
Historic Sub-Function: Meeting hall
Current Function: Commerce, Trade
Current Sub-Function: Organizational

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