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Summary

Abstract:
The Robert D. Helsby Papers include materials that document his work as first chair of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board from 1967-1977 and include publications on labor relations, New York's Taylor Law and collective bargaining.
Extent:
0.4 cubic ft.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Robert D. Helsby Papers, 1966-1987. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Helsby Papers).

Background

Scope and Content:

The papers of Robert D. Helsby include writings on labor relations, New York's Taylor Law and collective bargaining, and materials produced by New York's Public Employment Relations Board and its members such as Deputy Chair Jerome Lefkowitz. There are also news clippings and photographs from Helsby's tenure as chair of the Public Employment Relations Board. The collection also includes reports and documents produced by the State of New York about the Public Employment Relations Board and the Taylor Law.

Please note that the collection does not include any of Helsby's personal papers.

Biographical / Historical:

Robert D. Helsby was born on August 2, 1918 in Denton, Maryland. His parents were George L. and Jennie Blanche Davis Helsby. He graduated from Gloversville (New York) High School in 1934, earned his BS from the State University College at Oswego in 1936, and earned an MA from the Ohio State University in 1948. He earned his EdD from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1958 and did additional graduate work at Penn State University and Indiana University. During World War II, he served as a captain in the US Navy. He was a Commanding Officer aboard PT boats and on the staff of the Commander of the Armed Service Forces of the Atlantic Fleet in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Philippine Islands. He married Colene Fay Arney Helsby in 1945 and had five children.

Helsby was the Executive Deputy Industrial Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor and Executive Dean for Continuing Education at the State University of New York. He served as the first chair of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board from 1967-1977. Governor Nelson Rockefeller appointed the board and other members included George H. Fowler, Joseph R. Crowley, and Jerome Lefkowitz. From 1977-1981 he was Director of the Public Employment Relations Services, a Carnegie Corporation of New York project to assist public employment labor relations boards and commissions throughout the United States. In 1981 he became a professor of Industrial Relations at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He researched and published materials on labor relations, collective bargaining, and New York's Taylor Law. The Taylor Law was a result of the Governor's Committee on Public Employee Relations Report issued in 1966 and named after the committee's chair, George W. Taylor.

Acquisition information:
All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives by Robert Helsby in 1988.
Processing information:

Processed in 2003 by Amy C. Schindler.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series:

  1. Series 1 - Public Employment Relations Board, 1966-1969, 1972-1976, 1978-1980
  2. Series 2 - Writings, 1977, 1979, 1985, 1987

All series are arranged alphabetically.

Physical location:
The materials are located onsite in the department.

Contents


Access

Using These Materials

ACCESS:
The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
RESTRICTIONS:

Access to this record group is unrestricted.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Robert D. Helsby Papers, 1966-1987. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Helsby Papers).

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