Among the materials left in the trunk was an envelope titled, “Maurer, James H., Penn State Federation of Labor, Article on the Open Shop.” The envelope contained a printed copy of this article–from a speech that Maurer gave before the Miners’ Special Convention, DuBois, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1921. In addition, the envelope contained three letters from Maurer to Earl Davis confirming a meeting for the two of them on March 9, 1921. Unfortunately, the envelope did not contain Earl Davis’ side of this correspondence, nor anything about the meeting on March 9th.

James Maurer was President of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.

Here is a scan of the printed version of the speech:

21ArticleJamesMaurerTheOpenShop22Feb1921

Here is a scan of the correspondence from James Maurer to Earl Davis:

21CorrespondenceJamesMaurer1921

Here is a scan of the outside of the envelope:

21EnvelopeCorrespondenceAndArticleJamesMaurerTheOpenShop1921