The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...
. Established as a training center by the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizing skills, NLC became a degree-granting college in 1997 and in March 2004 gained accreditation from the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Until the college closed on April 26, 2014,
[http://www.nlc.edu/sample-page/about-us/] it was the only college of its kind in the United States.
In July 2014 the
Amalgamated Transit Union
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the un ...
purchased the National Labor College campus. The ATU plans to expand its long-standing union education and activism program to the newly acquired campus.
History
In 1969 AFL–CIO President
George Meany
William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979.
Meany, the son ...
founded a labor studies center under the direction of Fred K. Hoehler Jr. to promote education and training opportunities for union leadership and rank-and-file members. The Executive Council of the AFL–CIO determined an educational and training center held an important role in the organization's effort to further develop trade unionism, and decided to locate a permanent campus for the pursuit of labor studies.
On November 6, 1974, AFL–CIO President George Meany dedicated the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, located on the former campus of
Xaverian College. The property was purchased from the
Xaverian Brothers
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to education.
Hist ...
by the AFL–CIO for $2.5 million in 1971. At the dedication, Meany remarked that the purpose of the institution was to help union officials "make a better contribution to our people and to our nation."
The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Labor Studies was offered in partnership with
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...
(later
Antioch University
Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its ...
) through the 1990s.
In 1997 under the leadership of AFL–CIO President
John J. Sweeney, the center received authorization to grant baccalaureate degrees by the State of Maryland Higher Education Commission and became an independent institution of higher learning and renamed the National Labor College. By 2004, National Labor College had become fully accredited by the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
The National Labor College published ''
Labor's Heritage'', a scholarly journal of labor history, until 2004.
In the fall of 2006 the new
Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland (March 12, 1922 – August 14, 1999) was an American labor union leader who served as President of the AFL–CIO from 1979 to 1995.
Life and career
Kirkland was born in Camden, South Carolina, the son of Louise Beardsley ( ...
Center opened on the National Labor College campus, to provide upgraded facilities, and to greatly expand the college's hosting capabilities. At the time, the college hoped to promote the Kirkland Center as "America's union hall".
In 2009, the college entered into a partnership with
Penn Foster Education, a career college subsidiary of the
Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
in order to develop a distance education program. The program was ended by the college in November, 2011, because of the slow growth of the program and the financial difficulties of the Princeton Review.
[Goldie Blumenstyk, "National Labor College Ends Joint Venture With For-Profit Partner" ''Chronicle of Higher Education']
/ref> The college intended to use the facilities developed under this program to build its own program of distance education. The losses from the joint program were in part responsible for the 2012 decision to close the college's campus and function in online education only.
Facilities
With a campus located in Silver Spring, Maryland, a academic and conference center, and hotel quality residence halls, the college provided classroom, meeting spaces and dining services.
In 2012, the college announced its intention to sell the campus and relocate to offices in the Washington, DC area and have an online presence only. Plagued by roughly $30 million in debt—primarily from building the conference center—the college depended heavily on the sale of the campus to remain open. National Labor College was on the verge of selling its campus when the deal fell through in June 2013. The AFL–CIO stated it did not have enough money available to provide a bridge loan. After the college closed, the campus was sold.
George Meany Memorial Archives
From 1993 until 2013, the college was home to the George Meany Memorial Archives, the official and acting archives of the AFL–CIO. The archive is estimated to have a value of $25 million and contain more than 40 million artifacts. The archives include the papers of numerous labor leaders, the official records of all AFL–CIO proceedings since the founding of the American Federation of Labor, AFL in the 1880s, the archives of numerous union and federation publications, and the records of the departments of the AFL–CIO. The archives contain extensive correspondence relating to past AFL–CIO international activities during the Cold War which remain classified by most national governments.
On October 1, 2013, the collection was transferred from the National Labor College to the University of Maryland Libraries, where university archivists are preserving the archive to make them more readily available to the public. Records of the National Labor College are also available in the Special Collections at University of Maryland.
National Workers Memorial
The National Workers Memorial, dedicated on April 28, 2010, was erected on the college's campus to honor the memory of workers killed or fatally injured on the job, or in service to the labor movement. After the sale of the campus, the college intends to relocate the memorial to an appropriate location. Australia established a National Workers Memorial
The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in Silver Spring, Maryland. Established as a training center by the AFL–CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizin ...
, a memorial with a similar intent, in its national capital, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, in 2013.
Closure
On November 12, 2013, the National Labor College Board of Trustees directed Peinovich and the college's officers to develop a plan to close the college due to the institution's ongoing financial difficulties. In an open letter three days later to the college's community of students, alumni and supporters, Peinovich announced that the college closure would likely take many months and emphasized that there would be a "teach-out" plan to allow enrolled students to receive their degrees. The Labor College signed teach-out agreements with SUNY Empire State College, Thomas Edison State College
Thomas Edison State University (TESU) is a public university in Trenton, New Jersey. The university is one of New Jersey's 11 senior public institutions of higher education. Thomas Edison State University offers degrees at the undergraduate and ...
, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, and Rowan University
Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents.
...
that allowed NLC students to receive their degrees by earning credit at those five institutions. The college held its last commencement and a closing convocation on its Silver Spring campus on April 26, 2014. The final NLC commencement, for those enrolled in the 'teach-out', occurred on Saturday, January 30, 2016, at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute (formerly known as MITAGS).
References
External links
The National Labor College
(archived website)
George Meany Memorial Labor and Unions Archives
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1969
Educational institutions disestablished in 2014
Universities and colleges in Montgomery County, Maryland
Defunct private universities and colleges in Maryland
1969 establishments in Maryland
2014 disestablishments in Maryland