Guide to the ILGWU. Library listing of selected material

Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States, the ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, 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. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

The ILGWU maintained an extensive library of publications on labor history and industrial and labor relations, to support the union’s work on behalf of its members and the ladies’ garment industry. It is unclear whether the ILGWU library represented in this collection was managed by the Research Department, which maintained extensive holdings, or by another department in the International’s general office.

This collection consists of photocopied catalog cards of materials transferred from the ILGWU library to the Kheel Center, representing more than 700 volumes. These volumes included monographs on the history of the labor movement in the United States and elsewhere, government documents on the women's garment manufacturing industry, and analyses of federal codes, industry wages, and international labor organizations. Also included were publications on the ILGWU, and the union's departments and affiliates. The library catalog cards include basic bibliographic information. Many of the volumes represented by the cards are now available in the Catherwood Library or in publications collections of the ILGWU records.