ILGWU Political Department, Evelyn Dubrow Papers, 1964-1978
Collection Number: 5780/119

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, and political influence to become one of the most powerful forces in American organized labor by mid-century. Representing workers in the women's garment industry, the ILGWU worked to improve working and living conditions of its members through collective bargaining agreements, training programs, health care facilities, cooperative housing, educational opportunities, and other efforts. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.

Evelyn Dubrow was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1911. A graduate of New York University, Dubrow worked as a report for The Morning Call (Patterson, N.J.) and Secretary of the New Jersey organization of the American Newspaper Guild from 1943 to 1946, before becoming Educational Director for the Textile Workers Union of American in New Jersey. In 1949, she became New York state Director for Americans for Democratic Action. In 1956, she was named the ILGWU's chief lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Dubrow worked as Legislative Representative and Executive Secretary of the Political Department of the ILGWU, and continued her work after the union's merger with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers of America to create the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE). Dubrow died in Washington D.C., in 2006.

The Political Department of the ILGWU was founded in 1947, under the direction of Gus Tyler. Its primary function was to engage union members and their families in political issues at the local, state, and national levels. This engagement was achieved through conferences, publications, and other communications. Educational work was a hallmark of the department, as were the department's legislative monitoring, research activities, and organizing for electoral campaigns.

David Wells joined the Political Department in 1952, eventually becoming Assistant Director. In 1956, Evelyn Dubrow was named the ILGWU's chief lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and became a well-known fixture on Capitol Hill.

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ILGWU Political Department, Evelyn Dubrow Papers #5780/119. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/103: ILGWU Political Department Records 5780/142: ILGWU Political/Legislative Department, Evelyn Dubrow Papers 5780/088: ILGWU Gus Tyler Papers 6036/076 OH: Daniel Soyer ILGWU Heritage Project 6036/080: Evelyn Dubrow papers 6036/080 P: Evelyn Dubrow Photographs