National Civic Federation records, 1894-1949 bulk (1900-1920).

Links

• View catalog record
• View PDF finding aid (627.03 KB)

Creator

National Civic Federation.

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division

Extent

• 206 linear feet (496 boxes; 11 volumes).

Access Restrictions

Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Microfilm must be used in lieu of originals.

Scope/Contents Notes

The records provide extensive documentation of conservative and nationalist ideologies and their application to wide-scale reform and political activism inthe United States. The bulk of the collection chroniclesthe organization's activities during the years 1900-1920. NCF's primary activities consisted of organizing national conferences on significant issues, and gathering, condensing, and interpreting information on a wide spectrum of the economic, social, industrial, and political questions that defined the Progressive Era. In the process NCF generated massive quantities of records including correspondence of officers and members of NCF with actuaries, businessmen, labor officials, clergymen, social workers, educators, economists, politicians, farmers, government officials, statisticians, affiliated organizations, and others involved in NCF's extensive reform and political activities.

Equally important are the files of twenty-seven administrative departments and their special committees and numerous conferences commissioned by the Executive Council to study various social, economic, and political questions such as company unions, yellow-dog contracts, child labor, dividends reward systems, uniform state legislation, anti-trust law and combinations.

The collection also contains files relating to subversive activities and the long struggle of Ralph and Gertrude Beeks Easley against socialism, communism, feminism, and the recognition of the Soviet Union, as wellas the personal correspondence and papers of Ralph Easley and Gertrude Beeks Easley, which include noteworthy correspondence on the anti-woman suffrage movement.

Biographical/Historical Note

The National Civic Federation (NCF) was a New York-based conservative think-tank and reform alliance with strong ties to the Republican Party. It was founded in 1900 by the journalist, editor, and economist Ralph Easley (1867-1939) and others. After his death, Easley's widow and longtime colleague, Gertrude Beeks Easley (1867-1950), carried on the work of NCF until her death. During the period 1900-1920, the years which saw NCF's influence peak,the organization attempted to counteract socialist electoral successes and emergent labor militancy by joining capital and trade-unionism in a patriotic effort to end industrial strife. The ultimate aim was to bolster public confidence in the free enterprise system by initiating moderate social and industrial welfare programs,such as protective legislation for workers, and advocatingrestrained government involvement in business affairs. The alliance was comprised of actuaries, businessmen, capitalists, conservative trade union leaders, civil servants, political economists, educators, lawyers, politicians, social welfare workers, statisticians, union leaders, and others interested in advancing the cause of conservative reform and political activism.

Controlled Access Terms

• National Civic Federation.
• Antitrust law -- United States.
• Child labor -- United States.
• Capitalism -- United States.
• Communism.
• Immigrants -- United States.
• Industrial management -- United States.
• Industrial relations -- United States.
• Working class -- United States.
• Labor movement -- United States.
• Labor -- United States.
• Labor disputes -- United States.
• Labor laws and legislation -- United States.
• Monopolies -- United States.
• Old age pensions -- United States.
• Progressivism (United States politics).
• Social legislation -- United States.
• Social problems -- United States.
• Social reformers -- United States.
• Social surveys -- United States.
• Socialism.
• Trade regulations -- United States.
• Labor unions -- United States.
• Trusts, Industrial -- United States.
• Workers' compensation -- United States.
• United States -- Emigration and immigration.
• Photographs.

Additional Creator Names

• Avery, Martha Moore, 1851-1929.
• Belmont, August, 1853-1924.
• Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947.
• Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919.
• Commons, John R. (John Rogers), 1862-1945.
• Easley, Ralph M. (Ralph Montgomery), 1856-1939.
• Easley, Gertrude Beeks.
• Falkner, Roland P.
• Gompers, Samuel, 1850-1924.
• Jenks, Jeremiah Whipple, 1856-1929.
• Low, Seth, 1850-1916.
• Macy, E. Everitt.
• Mitchell, John, 1870-1919.
• Parker, Alton B. (Alton Brooks), 1852-1926.
• Perkins, George W. (George Walbridge), 1862-1920.
• Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
• Root, Elihu, 1845-1937.
• Seligman, Edwin Robert Anderson, 1861-1939.
• Sherman, P. Tecumseh (Philemon Tecumseh), 1867-1941.
• Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930.
• Wetmore, Maude.
• Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.)
• Civic Federation of Chicago (Ill.)
• National Employers Association.
• National Security League.
• United States. Council of National Defense.
• National Conference on Trusts and Combinations (1907 : Chicago, Ill.)
• Conference on Uniform Regulations (1910 : Washington, D.C.)
• National Conference on Reform of the Elections Laws (1906)
• National Conference on Workmen's Compensation (1910)
• National Civic Federation review.