The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers was born on September 1, 1893. On that day, at a meeting in Chicago, representatives from the International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders, which had been organized on October 1, 1880, and the National Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, which had been formed in Atlanta in May of 1888, resolved to consolidate their organizations. It was further agreed that the new organization, to be known as the Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders of America, would make its Headquarters in Kansas City, Kansas. Two and a half years later, on the ninth of June 1896, the Brotherhood affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.