Plumbers Local 130
Local Plumbers Select Chicago
St. Patrick’s Day Queen
The Digital Archive Group
Did you know that union plumbers from Plumbers Local 130 have been responsible for dying the Chicago River green every St. Patrick’s Day for over 60 years? They also oversee the selection of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Queen. Recently Local 130 leadership realized their 125-year-old history was unorganized, deteriorating, and inaccessible, so they reached out to The Digital Archive Group to keep it all from being lost forever. From their flagship sponsorship of the Parade to the recruitment and training of apprentices and journeymen to the plumbing industry, preserving these assets was important, not just for the union itself, but for families who have a long lineage to the trade.
TDAG archivists had to start from scratch. Nothing had been organized, with the exception of a few years of parade photos. The entire collection was being stored in 3 large plastic bins four feet tall and wide! Archivists had to arrange all the materials by age, format, and subject matter prior to digitization. Once organized, the TDAG team of image technicians digitized over 100,000 assets, including scrapbooks, photographs, negatives, documents, labor agreements, and training materials.
Plumbers Local 130 materials are also stored in our climate-controlled archival facility.
