Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Oral History., 1981-1982
Collection Number: 6036/025
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Connecticut Workers and Technology Project Oral History., 1981-1982
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6036/025
Abstract:
This collection contains copies of transcripts of oral history interviews conducted
by the Connecticut Workers and Technology Project.
Creator:
Center for Oral History at the University of Connecticut
Quanitities:
0.33 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
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 collection contains the transcripts of an oral history project originally funded
by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities at the Center for Oral Histories
at the University of Connecticut. The Connecticut Workers and Technology Project Oral
History consists of over 150 interviews, and the transcripts that are reproduced for
this collection are those where the worker was employed in the garment industry. The
individuals interviewed discuss their roles in the garment industry and the type of
work they performed, their background and family history, and how they came to be
employed in the garment industry. Many of the women interviewed enjoyed sewing and
enjoyed their jobs, and also talked about raising their families as a working woman.
The various roles of workers in the garment trade are examined, as well as rates,
pay, the piece work system, and involvement in the ILGWU. The interviewees freely
converse about their personal experiences and opinions about the industry. Because
the focus of the oral history project focuses on technology, emphasis during the interviews
involves the changes in technology and technique over the years that the interviewees
witnessed and experienced during their work and the observation that despite some
newer equipment, a garment is still sewn by an individual on a sewing machine as it
has been done for years.
The individuals interviewed include: Mary Salerno (March 6, 1982) born in Sicily
on January 11, 1922, came to the U.S. with her family at a young age and began working
in garment factories at seventeen sewing hats, slips, and drapes for an interior designer;
Josephine Carlozzi (March 6, 1982) born in the U.S. but raised in Italy not returning
to the states until 1951 when she started sewing pockets and became a chairlady of
the union; Margaret Costa (October 10, 1981) born in Sicily in 1908 and came to the
U.S. with family in the 1920s to New York where at sixteen found work in a dress shop
setting sleeves, relocated to Connecticut and found employment in the garment industry
sewing coats and capes on machines; Minnie Jackson (March 3, 1982) born on January
13, 1916 in Virginia and moved frequently before settling in Connecticut and pressing
men's shirts, working as a presser, packager, and sample packager; Mary Maiorani (February
24, 1982) born in Connecticut in 1918, worked all her life, first job was sewing,
and joined ILGWU in 1961; Fannie Lacobelle (March 3, 1982) born April 19, 1910, interested
in sewing, and did hand work and finishing on men's suits and custom tailoring; Saul
Nesselroth (June 19, 1981) educated at the ILGU training institute and worked for
the union for 18 years.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Oral History. #6036/025. Kheel Center
for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records
Names:
Carlozzi, Josephine.
Costa, Margaret.
Jackson, Minnie.
Lacobelle, Fannie.
Maiorani, Mary.
Nesselroth, Saul.
Salerno, Mary.
Connecticut Workers and Technology Project
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Mary Salerno
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 1. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Janet Nolan
on March 6, 1982. 21 pages.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Josephine Carlozzi
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25. R.I. 2. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Janet Nolan
on March 6, 1982. 5 pages.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Margaret Costa
|
1981 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 3. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Bruce Sheridan
on October 10, 1981. 16 pages.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Minnie Jackson
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 4. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Janet Nolan
on March 3, 1982. 24 pages.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Mary Maiorani
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 5. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Janet Nolan
on February 24, 1982. 27 pages.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Fannie Lacobelle
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 6. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Janet Nolan
on March 3, 1982. 20 pages
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Saul Nesselroth
|
1981 |
|
Scope and Contents
#25 R.I. 7. Connecticut Workers and Technology Project. Interviewed by Robert Asher
on June 19, 1981. 24 pages.
|
|||