THOMAS F. DOYLE:

Thomas F. Doyle was born ca.1869, perhaps in Canada. He arrived in the United States in the late 1880s or early 1890s, and was employed on the Grand Trunk Railway in Michigan at the time he joined the ORT on November 18, 1890. He came to the Lake Superior Division of the Northern Pacific in December 1890; much of his service with that carrier was on its Lake Superior and Minnesota Divisions, although he did work for part of a year on its Rocky Mountain Division. Doyle was one of the charter members of ORT Northern Pacific System Division No. 54, which was based in St. Paul and which received its charter on August 25, 1899. He resigned from the Northern Pacific on July 31, 1903, and went to work for the Soo Line railroad on August 28, 1903 as an agent at Maple Lake [Minnesota?]. He remained in that position until retiring on September 14, 1934. As a Soo employee he was a member of ORT Division No. 73.

The Order of Railroad Telegraphers (ORT) began in 1886 as a fraternal organization calling itself the Order of Railway Telegraphers of North America. In 1891 it reorganized as a protective union, and changed its name to the Order of Railroad Telegraphers of North America. Among other duties the telegraphers were responsible for the transmission of train movement orders.

The basic structural unit of the ORT was the subordinate (system) division, each of which included all of the Order's members employed on a given railroad system. Subordinate divisions were further divided into districts of about 100 members. Ultimate authority was vested in the Grand Division (international organization), which was elected by the subordinate divisions.

The name of the ORT was changed around 1965 to Transportation-Communication Employees Union (TCU), and in 1969 the TCU was absorbed by the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (BRAC). BRAC became the Transportation Communications International Union (TCIU) in 1987.

Return to top

This is a small collection of correspondence and membership cards and miscellaneous papers. It includes letters of recommendation written for Doyle by varioius individuals in Ingersoll and Aylmer, Ontario (1883-1887); bylaws of the Montana Division of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers (1892); Doyle's ORT membership certificate (1890); and letters to Doyle from Northern Pacific officials concerning transfers, promotions, and similar matters (1890-1905). There are form directives from the United States Railroad Administration (1918), and letters concerning Doyle's retirement (1934) and his career as a telegrapher (1954). There is some information about strikes (1905, 1911).

Return to top

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Thomas F. Doyle Papers Relating to the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 9968

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, September 1965

Catalog ID number: 09-00027716

Return to top

The Northern Pacific Railway Company corporate records are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

Return to top

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Labor movement -- United States.

Labor unions -- Telegraphers -- United States.

Railroads -- United States -- Employees.

Strikes and lockouts -- Railroads -- United States.

World War, 1914-1918.

Persons:

Doyle, Thomas F., 1869-.

Organizations:

Northern Pacific Railway Company -- Employees.

Order of Railroad Telegraphers (U.S.).

United States Railroad Administration.

Occupations:

Telegraphers.

Return to top