This collection consists of the papers of Louis Leonard primarily documenting his work with the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (AAISTW) surrounding the period of its merger with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee. There are also records from his terms as representative in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The collection also includes a few nineteenth century and early twentieth century ledgers and records from the AAISTW. Materials consist primarily of ledgers and financial papers, legislative information, executive board meeting minutes, convention proceedings, constitutions and general laws, personal and miscellaneous correspondence with CIO and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, convention medals, and lapel pins from 1894 to 1964. It also features a collection of information about Barry Goldwater, material regarding the Riverside Lodge No. 164 court case, two books entitled Capital Goods and the American Enterprise System and American Federation of Labor History Encyclopedia Reference Book and periodicals such as The Amalgamated Journal (1941-1942), Journal of the AAISTW, Bulletin of the Taylor Society and various newspaper clippings.
In Historical Collections and Labor Archives, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. (#MG 176)
Biographical or Historical Sketch
Born in Belgium in 1880, Louis Leonard came to McDonald, Pennsylvania, as an infant and relocated to Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1906. Having no formal schooling, he began as a puddler in the Whitaker Steel Mill in Wheeling. He became head of the Ohio Trade and Labor Association and ran for the Wheeling City Council seat in the 4th ward. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (AAISTW), based in Pittsburgh from 1919 until 1942. He became a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 20th Ward (D--8th District) from 1940 to 1966. He died in 1969 at the age of 89.
