Cataloguing the Local’s History One Document and Photo at a Time
80 Years of Memorabilia Tells the Story
Twice a month for the past year a dedicated group of IBEW 11 retirees have scoured through thousands of photos, documents, meeting attendance cards, political memorabilia, buttons, election material, old electrical tools and more to create a comprehensive history of the Local going back more than 80 years to its founding in 1942.
The result? A new museum that is now open at the Local’s headquarters on the second floor with over a dozen display cases showing off their wares. An additional storeroom has dozens and dozens of banker boxes overflowing with paraphernalia catalogued by year and subject for future researchers.
“It’s been a long-term project that members talked about doing for some time,” said former Business Manager Joël Barton, a self-proclaimed history buff who started the project when he was in office. “It’s important to catalogue the history of the Local for our members, particularly the apprentices and the next generation. The International has its museum, and we wanted one for our members.”
“We had to fight for everything,” Barton added. “In the ‘40s people sacrificed their lives for what we take for granted today.”
The call went out in 2022 via the retiree network asking members to bring in any old documents. And for many who can boast being second and third generation IBEW members, the trove of memorabilia was deep.
“We’ve found the most amazing things – they were scattered in our old headquarters on Seventh Street, in storage rooms in the new headquarters, and in members’ garages,”
Barton said.
Now they’re all in one place. And members are encouraged to submit new memorabilia to the Museum Development Committee, part of the Local’s Retiree Club.
“It’s been a labor of love,” said Museum Development Committee director John Lenau, a 66-year IBEW 11 member who was drafted for the project because of his passion for history. “The goal of the museum is to honor the legacy of those who came before us. It’s important for members to understand how we became the powerhouse we are today. We envision bringing the apprentices here as part of their classwork for tours to take them around and show them the union’s rich history.”
In the process, volunteers discovered that IBEW 11 had originally been six separate unions. But as a result of jurisdictional battles, the International stepped in and combined them into one local, IBEW Local Union B-11. In 1945 the new union held its first election, and the rest is, as they say, history.
“It was important to find out what came before us and how we got here,” said Don Echvahl, a 32-year member and retiree. His favorite part of the project: finding an old photo of himself as an apprentice taking second place in the apprentice competition. “That was great fun!”
Special thanks to all the IBEW 11 volunteers who worked on the project: John Lenau, MDC chairman and local historian; Al Etherton, President of the Retirees Club; Butch Bachand; Joel Barton; Craig Baker; David Grabowski; Don Eckvahl; Marc Greenfield; Dick Reed; Michelle Bermudez (ETI); Miguel Sanchez; Mohamed Yamak; Orman Brown; Sam Salcedo and
Tom Jonynas.
