William G. Borden Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS-271

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The William G. Borden Papers are divided into five series: Personal, United Automobile Workers Materials, Memorabilia, Publications, and Newspaper Clippings. The personal portion of the collection contains some Diocese of Toledo yearbooks, ephemera from the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter, and several interviews with William Borden conducted by his son Timothy Borden. The majority of the collection details Borden’s involvement with the U.A.W. Local 12. This includes the charter agreements and by-laws of union locals in the Toledo area, correspondence between union officials, pamphlets and publications by and about the U.A.W., photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia consisting of union and political buttons, pins, and identification badges. Of particular note is correspondence between William Borden and Local 12 president Richard T. Gosser before and during Gosser’s incarceration for conspiracy and jury tampering. These papers provide documentation for researchers interested in local Toledo involvement in the U.A.W. as well as the day-to-day functions and responsibilities of a union local.

Dates

Creation: 1946-2007

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials may be accessed by request at the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections on the fifth floor of the William S. Carlson Library on the main campus of the University of Toledo. Materials do not circulate.

Conditions Governing Use

In most cases, the Canaday Center does not own the copyright and literary rights to items in its collections; it is the responsibility of the researcher to adhere to U.S. Copyright and Fair Use laws, including seeking permission from the copyright holder and payment of any royalty fees, in the reproduction and use of archival materials.

Providing copies or scans does not constitute a license to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.

Biographical / Historical

William G. Borden was born in 1922 in Jersey City, NJ, to Alfred and Mary (Casey) Borden. The family moved to Toledo in the late 1920s when William’s father took a job as a lithographer for the Chase Bag Company. William Borden graduated from Jesup W. Scott High School in 1941 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1946 as a tank commander in the Pacific theater. He returned to Toledo in 1946 to take a job as an assembler at the Swartzbaugh Manufacturing Company, where he joined the United Automobile Workers (U.A.W.) Local 12. In 1952, Borden became an International Representative with responsibility for organizing union locals in other plants as well as processing grievances from existing U.A.W. shops. In 1976, U.A.W. President Leonard Woodcock assigned Borden to the Community Action Program. In this position, Borden participated in the creation of the U.A.W. Local 12 Summer Camp in Sand Lake, MI, as well as the establishment of the Toledo Area Pension Plan. William Borden retired from the U.A.W. in 1982 and passed away in 2007.