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Edward J. Santos Marine Engineers Beneficial Association collection

 Collection
Identifier: larc-ms-0112

Content Description

The collection offers a glimpse into the world of a maritime organizer's life during the late 1940s. The bulk of the material spans from 1940 to 1950. The collection contains log sheets and records of Santos' visits on board ships that had been organized by the M.E.B.A, notes from his time as a union organizer, and numerous agreements, both in draft and complete forms, which cover the M.E.B.A. and other maritime unions like the National Maritime Union (N.M.U.) and the Masters, Mates, and Pilots (M.M.P.). The collection does not include complete records for any M.E.B.A. Local or the International. Instead, it offers pieces from a number of M.E.B.A. Locals. It includes constitutional drafts from Locals 97 and 33, meeting minutes from Local 97, and information on affiliation and mergers at the National level. The collection also includes a number of individual copies of newsletters and periodicals produced by various M.E.B.A. Locals, maritime unions, and other labor organizations.

Dates

  • circa 1934-1986
  • Majority of material found within 1940-1950

Availability

Collection is open for research.

Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Biography

The bulk of the material centers around Edward Santos' organizing activities in the late 1940s. Santos was a native of the Bay Area who sailed on Union Oil ships in the early 1930s and was active in the onboard ship committees. Santos joined the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) Local 97 in 1943. He sailed in World War II, the Korean War and Operation Freedom in the Indo-China Wars. He was a representative organizer from 1946 to 1947 in the New York Area. He was also a national tanker organizer for Locals 79 and 97 from September 1947 to November 1947. He served as a National and Consolidated Great Lakes Organizer from December 1947 to April 1948, during which time he was involved in the effort to consolidate all of the M.E.B.A. Locals on the Great Lakes into one unit. In the early 1960s, Santos became an employee of the State of California. He worked at U.C. Berkeley's Lawrence Berkeley Lab, although the exact nature of his work is not specified.

Extent

1.25 Cubic Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Files of national and Great Lakes organizer Edward Santos, including ship log sheets, meeting minutes, committee reports, benefit plans, political action materials, strike information, agreements, and constitutions.

Physical Location

Collection is available onsite.

Title
Finding Aid to the Edward J. Santos Marine Engineers Beneficial Association collection
Status
Completed
Author
Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
Date
© 1999, revised 2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in: English.

Repository Details

Part of the Labor Archives and Research Center Repository

Contact:
San Francisco State University
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco 94132-1722 USA
(415) 405-5571