IBEW AFL Charter Shirt

Since 2021 is the 130th anniversary of the IBEW I had an idea to make shirts and posters of the original AFL Federal Labor Union 5221 charter.  So I messaged an IO Rep I know, and asked for a copy of that original Charter.  He responded that he’s been in contact with the IO & Local 1, but no one has the original charter or even a copy of it.  I tried contacting the AFL-CIO, but they referred me to the George Meany Labor Archive, at the University of Maryland.  A couple days later I got a response saying that there is a folder with IBEW documents that he will need to get permission to access.  A few days later I got a follow up email from the archive with all the documents they had.  The folder contained an 1891 letter from AFL president Sam Gompers to Secretary Treasurer J.T. Kelly stating that he is issuing a charter to the NBEW.

In 1905, the AFL received a letter from NBEW President Frank McNulty asking for a new charter because the original charter was lost in the mail somewhere in between Scranton, PA and Washington.

So while I wasn’t able to find that original 5221 charter, or a copy of the original NBEW Charter issued by the AFL on December 4th, 1891, I was able to get a copy of the reissued charter from 1905

-Joel Greenfield, Card #8005498
Journeymen Inside Wiremen
District 4 Welfare Committee Chairman