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1935-1999, predominant 1946-1959 (Creation)
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20 cm of textual records 121 photographs
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Biographical history
James L. Kidd (1912- ) (Jimmy) was a union officer with the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) Local 598, and the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 6500, in Northeastern Ontario. Kidd was raised in Coniston Ontario, and after spending one year at Queen's University, he returned to the Sudbury district to work at Frood Mine in 1936. He also worked at various mines in Yellowknife and Biscotasing before 1940. When Kidd became a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)(1940), he was instrumental in building up their Sudbury membership. He held positions such as Trustee and Chairman of the District CCF, and in 1943, he became President of the Sudbury CCF Club. James Kidd joined the IUMMSW, Local 598 when it was chartered in 1943 and was elected as the second President of the local in 1945. In 1947 he was defeated by Nels Thibault in a second bid for re-election. He became a shift boss in 1949, thus excluding himself from union membership, but in 1954 he returned to work as an hourly rated employee, and became active once again in union affairs. In 1956, following years of conflict between Local 598 and USWA Local 6500, Kidd was expelled for life from the Mine Mill. He then accepted a position as an official staff member with the Steelworkers. In 1977, he retired from both the Steelworker's staff, where he was Chairman of the Education Committee, and as Editor of the Peninsula Steelworker
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Scope and content
This fonds consists of correspondence, an unpublished manuscript, photographs, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings. The correspondence is mainly with his brother Cleve, with regard to the Northern Ontario mining labour movement in general, between the years 1945-1975, and specifically to James Kidd’s activities within both the Mine Mill, Local 598 and Steelworkers, Local 6500. The manuscript written by Mr. Kidd is entitled “The Organizer” and is described by him as a “manual for labour relations.” The photographs include the Steel Raids of 1961, and Mr. Kidd’s 1977 retirement celebration.
The involvement of James Kidd in the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), his position within the union structure, his anti-communist sentiments and his philosophy regarding union organization and strategy are outlined both within his unpublished manuscript and in letters to his brother Cleve. Events surrounding the 1956 trial and dismissal of both Mr. Kidd and 53 other union members from the Mine Mill are also detailed. The material would be of note to researchers interested in the labour movement and the factionalism which characterized union activity in Sudbury during the years 1942-1967.
The six series of this fonds are: Series I: Correspondence with brother Cleve.; Series II: Photographs; Series III: Steelworkers correspondence; Series IV: Miscellaneous; Series V: Trial history and Series VI: Scrapbook.
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Northern Ontario Labour Industrial Archives (NOLIA), who held the fonds since 1982, donated it to Laurentian University Archives in 1983.
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- English
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The first accrual was received in 1982. The second and third accruals were received in 1992 and in 1999.
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previously RG 1
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Revised: 2023-04-28