Over 600 handwritten “one-off” letters in Henry Dorn’s handwriting. Henry Dorn was the first Ohio State Chief of Inspector of Workshops and Factories, which became the American Federation of Labor in Columbus, the first federation of labor in America. This journal of handwritten letters written by Dorn commenced two weeks after he was appointed to his post in 1884. The letters are one-offs in his own handwriting to a host of companies and firms in Ohio delineating various safety and other problems he found after inspecting their facilities. They are an historic, scarce and complete early record of not only the state of safety conditions in Ohio at that time, but also reveal the very earliest origins of the American Federation of Labor in its pre-birth. Henry Dorn’s efforts resulted in the first ever national convention of factory inspectors ever held in America (June 1887, Philadelphia). He was elected its first presiding officer and was also elected permanent secretary and treasurer. More extensive information on Dorn’s contributions to the labor safety movement can be found in Risk: Negotiating Safety in American Society by Arwen P. Mohun, JHU Press, 2012. The letters are on onion skin paper and were most likely created using iron gall inks which would have penetrated the original paper surface, thus transferring the handwriting to the onion skin surface. They are an exact record of Dorn’s own handwritten letters. The journal covers are rough around the edges and the spine is gone. There is a large gouge on the front cover. The letters, however, are near fine and are quite easy to read. There is an alphabetized index in the front of the journal. 628 pages. 9.75 x 12.

Reserve: $225.00

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