Union materials collected by James Shores Griffith during his membership in Local Union No. 147, Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers, as well as other miscellaneous materials relating to the painting and decorating skilled trade.

The majority of the collection relates to Local Union No. 147, including notices to members, dues and assessments receipts, election flyers and results, and newsletters, from 1912 until 1971. Also included are two souvenir programs for the Local Union No. 147 50th and 75th anniversary celebrations, and two reports issued by the Painters' District Council No. 14, entitled "Historical Data of Painters District Council #14, Chicago, IL," detailing the history of the district central body over the chartered local Chicago painter unions, and "Survey of Working Conditions in the Painting Trade in Chicago, 1929-1934," on the working conditions of local painters union members.

The collection includes two photocopies of wage records for Griffith's maternal grandfather from 1882, as well as Griffith's apprentice contract and union painters apprentice school attendance records. It also includes workman admission passes and souvenir admission tickets to the 1933 "A Century of Progress" exposition in Chicago. Also included are two pieces of correspondence: a brief letter from Charles W. Toomey, thanking Griffith for completing a job; and a letter from the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America to the financial secretary of Local Union No. 147, verifying Griffith as a life member of the union. There are two photographs in the collection: one of the 1959 funeral for Local Union No. 147 long time business representative, Charles Youngblood; and one of members of the Local Union No. 147 in 1967, volunteering their services at a camp for children with cerebral palsy. The latter photograph includes James Griffith, four years before his death.

Additions to the collection include two albums compiled by James Shores Griffith. The first, entitled "WWI, 1918-1919. American Expeditionary Forces, France. 3nd Regiment Engineers, U.S. Army by James Shores Griffith, Chicago, Illinois," features newspaper articles, government documents, military orders, published notices and pamphlets, letters, telegrams, and photographs pertaining to Griffith's service in World War I. The second album, entitled "Genealogy. The Ancestry of the Griffith Family, 1720-1971, United States of America," includes genealogical information regarding the Griffith family, beginning with Caldwalider Griffith, born in 1720, and ending with James Shores Griffith, who died in 1971.