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Justus Collins [1857-1934] was an entrepreneur who opened his first coal mine in the Pocahontas- Flat Top coal field of Southern West Virginia, and thereafter operated mines in the New River, Tug River, and Winding Gulf coal fields. He headed a coal sales agency, speculated in coal and timber lands, headed a cement company, and was interested financially in rubber, oil, and gas companies. He played an important role in organizing the Tug River Coal Operators Association, the Winding Gulf Operators' Association, and the Smokeless Coal Operators Association of West Virginia.

The two volumes of newspaper clippings cover the years 1913-1916, and 1922-1927 and are concerned with Neely's activities as Congressman and Senator, including his abortive attempt to have Judge A. G. Dayton impeached. There are also two volumes of speeches (clippings from the Congressional Record) for years 1926-1928, and 1931-1932.

This collection includes the records of the West Virginia Labor Federation (WVLF), AFL-CIO as a singular organization, established in 1957, and the records of its predecessor organizations prior to their merger, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO).

Series 1 comprises records related to the West Virginia State Labor Federation, AFL's internal operation and initiatives, including presidents' files, secretary-treasurers' files, general office files, Department of Education files, and financial materials.

Series 2 comprises the records related to the West Virginia State Industrial Union Council, CIO's internal operation and initiatives, including executive secretary-treasurers' files, central office mailings, and records of the Political Action Committee.

Series 3 is reflective of the organization's operations and initiatives after the AFL-CIO merger, including files of various presidents, various secretary-treasurers, central office files, convention files, political materials, legislative files, assorted programs, and financial materials.

Series 4 is a 1978 addendum to this collection that includes additional files of the WVFL, AFL-CIO after the merger, largely featuring records of initiatives like the Political Action Committee and Women's Activities Department.

Series 5 is a 1981 addendum including mostly internal materials, like the notebooks of former organization leaders, photo albums, and copies of AFL-CIO publications.

Organizers featured prominently in the collection include Tom Cairnes, E. A. Carter, and Volney Andrews (series 1); Miles Stanley (series 3 and 5); Ben Skeen (series 1 and 3); Glen Armstrong (series 1, 3, and 5); and Pat Sleeth (series 3). WVLF initiatives featured prominently in the collection include the Committee on Political Education (series 3 and 4) and the Women's Activities Department (series 3 and 4), the Appalachian Council (series 3), the Manpower Development and Training Act (series 3), and others. There is a small amount of audiovisual material in this collection in the form of audio recordings created by the WVLF and some photographs that have been digitized for remote access. However, much of this collection is comprised of paper records, ledgers, photographs, printed correspondence, and notebooks.

The collection consists of correspondence, reports, surveys, financial and academic records, circulars, and other papers, including regulations of the National Bituminous Coal Commission and bulletins of various code authorities of the National Recovery Administration. Also included in the collection are correspondence, reports, and other papers (ca.1926-1940) of the Lynchburg Coal & Coke Co.

Reports and correspondence; and records of finances, appointments, resignations, enrollment and attendance, including extension work.