History

A RELIABLE TEAM

Training the next generation of Operating Engineers is the lifeblood of our union. Making sure that Engineers are safe, skilled, and knowledgeable about the equipment they use is our mission

Operating Engineers Local 1 100th Anniversary 1896-1996 

Oldest written record of Local 1 is a one-page financial state­ment for the first quarter of 1890. Cash on hand Jan. 1, 1890 was $21.40. Oldest membership list is in a financial ledger dated from 1892 containing names of 62 individuals. Dues were 50¢ per month. The oldest available recorded minutes of a membership meeting from Local 1 are dated October 2, 1919. According to excerpts from the International Steam Engineer, dated December 1902, Local 1 was one of 10 local unions that joined together to form the National Union of Steam Engineers in 1896. The local, as with many or all of the 10 orig­inal local unions, was an independent affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and was listed with the AF of L as Engineers Protective Union 5703. Some notable officers of Local 1 in its early days were B.F. Lilly, whose name appears on page one of the 1892 membership list and was thought to be president; a member named J.M. Smales, who is in the 1892 ledger and served as delegate to the AF of L and to the first annual convention of the National Union of Steam Engineers in 1897. Philip A. Peregrine of Local 1 was a delegate to the 2nd annual con­vention held in Peoria, Illinois, in Sept. 1898 and was later elect­ed president in 1899. Brother Ed Mays, a charter member of Local 1, served in various offices and positions with the local union. On August 10, 1956, he was honored as the oldest living member of Local 1 and claimed to be the register number "13." Another prominent officer of Local 1 was Henry Herbolsheimer, who served as a business agent from 1935 to 1956 and was also an international trustee. As of January 1, 1898, Local 1 was thought to be the largest local union in the International with 200 members, according to the July 1902 journal. The second largest was Local 7 of Boston with 87 members. On that date the International Union had a total of 788 members. By October 1902, there were 166 local unions and over 19,000 members in good standing. As of December 1, 1995, there are 180 local unions and over 355,303 members in good standing. Local 1 currently has 809 members.
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