Guide to the Margaret Darin Stasik Papers, 1936-1945 AIS.1973.32
- Repository
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Title
- Margaret Darin Stasik Papers
- Creator
- Stasik, Margaret Darin
- Collection Number
- AIS.1973.32
- Extent
- 0.63 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Date
- 1936-1945
- Abstract
- Margaret Darin Stasik was elected the first Recording Secretary of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), Local 601, East Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1935. She was also active in the effort to obtain a signed, written contract from Westinghouse. The Papers of Margaret Darin Stasik consist of correspondence, memoranda, handbills, posters, flyers, and publications relating to UE, Local 601 for the period 1936-1945.
- Language
- English .
- Publisher
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Address
- University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Margaret Darin was born in 1908. Darin grew up in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a town east of Pittsburgh, and went to work for Westinghouse Electric in East Pittsburgh in c. 1929, as an assembler. Though she had not gone to high school, Darin was chosen to attend the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers and the Brookwood Labor College. These were experiences she valued highly in later years. Darin was heavily involved in the organizing campaign when the movement to create a union in the Westinghouse plant gathered force in the mid-1930's. The Westinghouse local union, once formed, went through several name changes and affiliation, before finally settling in more or less permanently as Local 601 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE). Darin was the Local's first Recording Secretary, a paid staff position she held for six years, and was active in the prolonged effort to obtain a signed, written contract from Westinghouse. Additionally she was active in organizing work in the local and in UE District 6, which covered Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Darin helped organize the First UE Women's Conference in District 6, a conference addressed specifically to the needs of women workers in the electrical industry. She took the last name Stasik in the 1940s after her marriage.
In the early 1940s a reaction set in within the Local 601 and from forces outside it against the union's left wing leadership group. Darin, along with Charles Newell, lost union elections. Following this, Westinghouse refused to hire Darin when she sought to become re-employed there. Darin was taken on staff with the National union for a time in 1942 and helped the UE win an election in the Westinghouse Cleveland plant in December 1943. Darin left the UE staff in early 1944.
Darin's papers reflect the activities of an articulate union pioneer, who contributed to the success of a powerful local union of many thousands of members and also to the efforts to bring women workers more solidly into the union movement.
Scope and Content Notes
The Papers of Margaret Darin Stasik span the years 1936-1945, and consist of correspondence, memoranda, handbills, posters, flyers, and publications relating to the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), Local 601, East Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to materials regarding Darin's position as Recording Secretary, there are also materials relating to her service on the Executive Board and as an international trustee.
Of importance to the researcher studying the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, Local 601 are correspondence files with information regarding formation of the union, constitution and by-laws, membership, union policies and procedures, improvement of local union elections, and wages and work conditions during World War II. In addition, a complete history and chronology of the Westinghouse Corporation can be found in the 50th anniversary issue of the Westinghouse magazine.
Although it is notable that Darin initiated the first UE Women's Conference, there is no information provided about this event. However, the collection does contain a speech given by the donor titled, "On the Role of Women in Industry - Equal Pay for Equal Work," which provides insight to Darin's feelings on the subject.
The researcher may wish to consult the following sources for information related to this collection. An interview with Margaret Darin Stasik conducted by Ronald Schatz in 1977, copied for the Archives Service Center by the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, has been transcribed as part of AIS 199115 and may also be examined online at http://www.library.pitt.edu/. Additional papers of Darin's can be found in the UE 7-3 Organizers, the UE National Office Research Files, and the UE 4-1 District and Local Files. Some items from Box 1565 regarding the early history of UE Local 601 and a brochure from the Bryn Mawr School may be viewed on the Labor Legacy Web Site at http://www.library.pitt.edu/labor_legacy/. Darin's sister, Evelyn O. Darin, was also involved in the local union. Her paper can also be found at the Archives Service Center, collection number AIS 198819. Photos of Evelyn and Ella (Darin) Piazza can be found in the UE Photo Collection. A reading companion to this collection is Ronald Schatz', The Electrical Workers: A History of Labor at General Electrical and Westinghouse (Urbana, IL).
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Margaret Darin Stasik, December 1973.
Preferred Citation
Margaret Darin Stasik Papers, 1936-1945, AIS.1973.32, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Previous Citation
Margaret Darin Stasik Papers, 1936-1945, AIS.1973.32, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Margaret Darin Stasik Papers, 1936-1945, UE 73:32, Archives of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh and Papers of Margaret Darin Stasik, 1936-1945, UE 73:32, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Archives Service Center Staff in 1973.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Julie Aher in May 2003. Information about the collection title and the controlled access terms was extracted from the MARC record in the University of Pittsburgh catalog Voyager ID number: 1426850.
Copyright
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh 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.
Subjects
- United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Local 601 (East Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Westinghouse Electric Corporation
- Stasik, Margaret Darin
- East Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- History
- Labor
- Personal papers
- Women
- Electric industry workers -- Labor unions -- Organizing -- Pennsylvania -- East Pittsburgh
- Electric industry workers -- Pennsylvania -- East Pittsburgh