Primary source material from the Industrial Relations Section Collection are now available in the Princeton University Library Digital Repository (Digital PUL).

In 1922 the Industrial Relations Section was founded as a subdivision of the Department of Economics where students and faculty could build and maintain a unique library of data and information to inform their academic study of labor issues. This library of information would be available not only to faculty and students, but also labor leaders, business leaders, and anyone else who would want to access it.

Charissa Jefferson, Labor Economics Librarian, now leads a project to digitize the Section’s collection to increase the discoverability of the primary source labor history collection.

The collection of 31,142 items in approximately 1,039 boxes comprises original materials from 1922 to 1989 produced by companies, trade unions, research organizations, governmental agencies, and professional associations, documenting labor-related policies as they were being established.

Highlights of materials available online include a collection of pamphlets on employment discrimination and a collection of materials that provide historic context and understanding of the prison labor movement in the first half of the 20th century.  

Explore the available materials here by searching by keyword, subject, or box name.

Stay tuned for updates!  For more information about the collection, contact Charissa Jefferson.

Text of this post adapted from the following webpages:

•  https://irs100.princeton.edu/our-founding-topic-page 

• https://dpul.princeton.edu/industrial-relations