National Union of Stewards archives

[Mette McCall]

I know that some of the stewards aboard Titanic were organized through the National Union of Stewards. I'm wondering if the steward I'm researching, Charles Valdemar Jensen, was a member and how to find info on this. I found out that the Union was later merged with Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union, which closed down in 1927. I've found the following data base that I think might contain some of the records. I'll call Warwick Monday to ask, but was wondering if anyone in the meantime have had any luck finding info on Titanic stewards stored in old union records?
http://dscalm.warwick.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=3&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27Ama lgamated%20Marine%20Workers-%20Union%27%29

 

[Andrew Williams]

How ironic Mette you should be following the same leads as I did in the summer of this year. I haven't yet explored this avenue with Warwick University, as I have a much larger Crew list of enquiries to check myself.

A word of warning if you feel there's a need to have some employed on your behalf to do an in-depth search on Jensen, then take good advice from my corner as I learnt a substantial fee will be enforced with no refund on offer.

Not much in the way of material survives relating to Titanic that was the last notification confirmed in the letter I received either in June or July of this year. Knowing my luck I don't take 'no' as an answer. I usually end up doing the main search myself, and thus I am left with a clear conscious that a satisfactory search was done on my part without any misgivings whatsoever.

I am planning to pay a visit with this department sometime next year. When precisely hasn't been decided as yet. Like you, and the rest, I remain inquisitive and driven to check this collection as I learnt from past experience, old Minute Books are a wealth of knowledge busting at the seems with a valuable collection of information.

By all means make your enquires but don't fall in that trap and be out of pocket. Take caution and be sure of your own judgement seriously.

 

[Mette McCall]

Thanks for the warning Andrew! And yes, I've encountered quite a few hefty fees in my Titanic research - but also some extremely helpful archival staff being excited about my project and happy to help. In general, I'm surprised that so little information about the Titanic crew has been saved. Aside from Jessop's memoirs and a few crew members testifying there's almost no written accounts of how they experienced the voyage, how they lived, worked, slept, etc. If you've come across some sources I might have overlooked please do share, I'll post the result of my enquiry with Warvick Monday.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Mette, you ain't seen nothing by way of hefty fees till you get my bill!

 

[monica e. hall]

Don't pay Bob a penny, Mette, send the bill to me instead. I'm collecting them to include in my mind-boggling 2012 book Invoices from an Optimist.

 

[Andrew Williams]

Mette -- take my sound advice. Pay Bob with two options -- shirt buttons or the currency of Monopoly