ILGWU Archives Department, Robert Lazar Papers, 1890-1985
Collection Number: 5780/121

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Archives Department, Robert Lazar Papers, 1890-1985
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/121
Abstract:
In addition to documentation of the archives' everyday operation, the papers of ILGWU archivist Robert Lazar include photocopies of materials from the ILGWU records, collected printed material about the ILGWU, sheet music, meeting minutes of local unions, and accounting ledgers.
Creator:
Lazar, Robert
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
4.33 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

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.

Biographical / Historical

The ILGWU Archives were established in New York City in 1973, under the direction of Henoch Mendelsund. Robert Lazar served as archivist. The archives sought to collect union correspondence, meeting minutes, collective bargaining agreements, publications, photographs, audio recordings, film, and memorabilia. In 1987, the ILGWU Archives were transferred to the Kheel Center.

The records of the Archives Department include administrative records files relating to the establishment and operation of the unit, subject files containing photocopies of archival material, archival records maintained by the department, and publications.
Administrative records document how the archive was built, operated, and used. They include inventory and accession forms, correspondence with union officials and donors, financial records, and guidelines for the processing and care of archival records. These also include procedures for using the collections, guidelines for donating materials, and signed forms by researchers who accessed the archives. Materials relating to the archives' oral history project are also contained in these administrative files. These oral history audio recordings and transcripts (5780 OH and 5780/110 OHT) are available at the Kheel Center.
Subject files include prominent figures in the union, local unions, and other ILGWU affiliates and contain photocopies of records documenting the work of these individuals and organizations. Among the subject files and archival records are the ILGWU's founding meeting minutes (5780/111, box 1, folder 13), as well as minutes of the ILGWU predecessor union Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038 of the Knights of Labor.
Archival records include union correspondence, accounting ledgers, local union meeting minutes, and other material. The accounting ledgers of the Central States region are among the relatively few records held at the Kheel Center that document the activities of that department. The meeting minutes of Local 89, Local 48, Local 414, and Local 2585/414 fill out gaps in other series. These records from the Archives Department complement those in other series of the ILGWU Records
The Archives Department Publications (5780/121 PUBS) consist of printed material collected by the unit. They include newsletters and newspapers from local unions, collective bargaining agreements, membership censuses, financial and statistical reports, information welfare funds, legal records, and some material related to arbitration. Included in the papers of longtime ILGWU Archivist Robert Lazar (5780/121) is published sheet music.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

ILGWU Archives Department, Robert Lazar Papers #5780/121. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records

SUBJECTS

Names:
Lazar, Robert
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Clothing workers -- United States
Industrial relations -- United States

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
Schoenwald: Labor Studies Center -- Retirement Planning
1973
Box 1 Folder 2
Schoenwald: Friendly Visitors Program (Office for the Aging)
1972
Box 1 Folder 3
Schoenwald: Office for the Aging (Governor's Advisory Committee)
1982
Box 1 Folder 4
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
1967
Box 1 Folder 5
Aging: White House Conference on Aging -- Correspondence and Surveys
1982
Box 1 Folder 6
Aging: White House Conference on Aging -- Articles (Clippings)
1981
Box 1 Folder 7
Social Security: Bert Seidman -- Correspondence
1970-1971
Box 1 Folder 8
Social Security: Hearings of the Select Committee on Aging (Shoenwald)
1983
Box 1 Folder 9
Schneider, Ed: Correspondence
1978-1983
Box 1 Folder 10
ILGWU Retirees Membership Meeting
1959-1961
Box 1 Folder 11
Civil Rights Complaint Against ILGWU
1968
Box 1 Folder 12
Daily Labor Report and Miscellaneous Legal Updates
1968
Box 1 Folder 13
Local 89 (Dressmakers Union): Executive Board Minutes
1976-1984
Box 1 Folder 14
Local 89 (Italian Dressmakers Union): Executive Board Minutes
1974-1976
Scope and Contents
Bound volume
Box 1 Folder 15
Local 89 (Dress and Waistmakers' Union): Summer Colony Minutes and Audit
1923-1927
Box 1 Folder 16
Local 2585/414: Minutes
1940-1945
Box 1 Folder 17
Local 414: Minutes
1945-1946
Box 1 Folder 18
Local 414: Minutes
1946-1961
Box 1 Folder 19
Local 48: Executive Board Minutes
1978-1981
Box 1 Folder 20
Appeal Committee, ILGWU: Hearings re Charges Against Local 9
1933
Scope and Contents
Bound volume
Box 1 Folder 21
Dress Code Authority: Minutes
1933-1934
Scope and Contents
Bound volume
Box 1 Folder 22
Dubinsky: Gov. Cuomo Citation
1983
Box 2 Folder 1
Biflex Foundations: Agreement with ILGWU, Corset and Brassiere Workers of NY Local 32 and Amalgamated Ladies' Garment Cutters' Union Local 10
1954- 1958
Box 2 Folder 2
Sophie R. Quinn Scholarship Fund
1970
Box 2 Folder 3
Walterboro Dress Corp. (William Baliush, President): Promissory Note to ILGWU Revolving Fund
1958
Box 2 Folder 4
Wind 'n' Sky (Saul Weinstein): Promissory Note to ILGWU Southeast Region
1967
Box 2 Folder 5
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Inc.: Mortgage Note with ILGWU
1979
Box 2 Folder 6
Mortgage Loans, Georgia
1965
Box 2 Folder 7
One-Ninety Corporation: Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Stock (Knit Goods Workers Union, Local 190, Philadelphia)
1960-1976
Box 2 Folder 8
One-Ninety Corporation: Tax Exemption Letter
1961
Box 2 Folder 9
One-Ninety Corporation: Tax Returns (Form 990)
1965-1981
Box 2 Folder 10
Arbitration Awards: Cases Heard by Raymond V. Ingersoll
1924-1926
Box 2 Folder 11
Arbitration Awards: Cases Heard by Arthur S. Meyer
1946
Box 2 Folder 12
Arbitration Awards: Cases Heard by Harry Hopkins
1945
Box 2 Folder 13
ILGWU Local 25, Dress and Waist Manufacturers' Association: Conference
1915
Box 2 Folder 14
ILGWU, Cloak, Suit and Skirt Manufacturers' Protective Association, NY Joint Board of Cloak and Skirt Makers' Union: Council of Conciliation Findings and Recommendations
1915
Box 2 Folder 15
Joint Board of Cloak, Skirt and Reefer Makers' Union of Greater NY: Correspondence
1920
Box 2 Folder 16
Industrial Council of Cloak, Skirt, and Suit Manufacturers: Legal Briefs
1926
Scope and Contents
brittle
Box 2 Folder 17
Los Angeles Cloak Joint Board
1959-1963
Box 2 Folder 18
Amphenol-Borg (Delavan and Jefferson) Agreements/Negotiations
1962-1966
Box 2 Folder 19
Borg Textiles: Bunker-Ramos Corporation (Delavan and Jefferson) -- Negotiations and Agreement
1970-1971
Box 2 Folder 20
H. W. Gossard: Agreement with ILGWU
1970
Box 2 Folder 21
Wausau: Marathon Rubber Products -- Negotiations
1970-1973
Box 2 Folder 22
Wausau: Negotiations
1963
Box 2 Folder 23
Wausau: Local 374 -- NLRB Election -- Correspondence and Contract Notes
1946-1950
Box 2 Folder 24
Central States Region: Meyer Perlstein (ILGWU Vice President) -- Correspondence
1937-1951
Box 2 Folder 25
Central States Region: Agreements and Cases
1937-1940
Box 2 Folder 26
Central States Region (Chicago): Agreement, Injunction
1890-1924
Box 2 Folder 27
Unity House/Pike County Hotels Corporation: Dining Room Salaries, Income Statement
1935-1936
Box 2 Folder 28
Unity House/Pike County Hotels Corporation: Financial Reports
1937-1941
Box 2 Folder 29
Unity House: Tax-Exempt Status
1968
Box 2 Folder 30
Grossinger's and Local 1 Dining Room Employees
1963-1965
Box 2 Folder 31
Unity Broadcasting Corporation of Massachusetts: Stock Certificates
1945-1947
Box 2 Folder 32
Union Dues
1974
Box 3 Folder 1
50th Anniversary: Local 178
1984
Box 3 Folder 2
All American Fashion Show
1985
Box 3 Folder 3
Chaikin 10th Anniversary Invitations
1985
Box 3 Folder 4
Affiliated Dress Manufacturers: Agreement
1976
Box 3 Folder 5
Affiliated Dress Manufacturing: Agreement
1979
Box 3 Folder 6
Liberal Party Primary: Gus Tyler
1968
Box 3 Folder 7
Liberal Party Primary: Javits
1968
Box 3 Folder 8
Liberal Party Primary: Johnson
1968
Box 3 Folder 9
Liberal Party Primary: Republican-Liberal Collaboration Scandal -- Newspaper Clippings
1973
Box 3 Folder 10
Liberal Party Primary: Newspaper Clippings
1966-1968
Box 3 Folder 11
Local 10: 1968 Election
1968
Box 3 Folder 12
ILGWU: Newspaper Clippings
1975-1982
Box 3 Folder 13
ILGWU: Convention and Election
1962
Box 3 Folder 14
ILGWU: Convention and Election
1968
Box 3 Folder 15
Meyer London Biography Manuscript by Marx Lewis
1985
Box 3 Folder 16
National Maritime Union Election
1967-1968
Box 3 Folder 17
Trade Union Advisory Committee on International Affairs: German Trade Unions
1948
Box 3 Folder 18
Union Labor Life Insurance Company
1961-1970
Box 3 Folder 19
Union Health Center: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal (JFK)
1963
Box 3 Folder 20
Correspondence, Miscellaneous
1982-1985
Box 3 Folder 21
Education Department: Training for Trade Union Service Course
1935-1940
Box 3 Folder 22
Venezuela Labor Mission and Exhibition, "Unions In Action"
1970
Box 3 Folder 23
Progressive Dressmakers Workmen's Circle Branch 122: Scrapbook
1943-1945
Scope and Contents
Some material in Hebrew alphabet
Box 4 Folder 1
Union Label
1975
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 2
Have a Heart, Taft-Hartley
1947
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 3
Men Awake!
1937
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 4
I Hear America Singing
1951
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 5
Cradle Song
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 6
Af a Fule Voch
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 7
Cavalleria Rusticana
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 8
Di Shvue
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 9
Four Russian Folk Songs
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 10
It's a Grand Night for Singing: Williamson Music, Inc., Choral Series
1945
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 11
Jota
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 12
Les Millions D'Arlequin
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 13
Lustspiel Overture
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 14
Minuett from G Minor Symphony
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 15
Orientale
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 16
March of the Sardar
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 17
Romanza Andaluza
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 18
Sarabande and Gavotte
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 19
Serenade D'Autrefois
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 20
Serenade in Four Movements (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 21
Slavonic Dance
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 22
S'Loifen S'Yogen
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 23
Transcriptions for Mandolin Orchestra
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 24
Titus
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 25
Bach: Aria and Minuet
Scope and Contents
sheet music for second mandolin
Box 4 Folder 26
Bach: First Mandolin
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 27
Gopak
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 28
Gopak Complete
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 29
Slave March (Tschaikowsky)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 30
Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 31
Symphony No. 6 Surprise and Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 32
Prelude in G Minor and Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 33
Anitra's Dance
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 34
Minuet in G (Beethoven)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 35
The Nightingale
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 36
Aria and Minuet (Bach)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 37
National School Orchestra: On the Volga and Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 38
Schirmer's Band Music: Second Hungarian Rhapsody and Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 39
Festival Fantasy, Cielito Lindo (Paparello)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 40
La Golondrina and Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 41
Prelude (Rachmaninoff)
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 42
Marche Militaire
1917
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 4 Folder 43
Largo
1925
Scope and Contents
sheet music
Box 5 Folder 1
Accounting Ledgers: Central States (book 1)
1934-1938
Scope and Contents
Brittle, bound; oversized box
Box 5 Folder 2
Accounting Ledgers: Central States (book 2)
1934-1938
Scope and Contents
Brittle, bound; oversized box