Roberts, Lillian Interview, 1981
Collection Number: 5134 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Lillian Roberts Interview, 1981
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5134 AV
Abstract:
Interview with Lillian Roberts on her childhood, move to New York City, and work in
the labor movement.
Creator:
Roberts, Lillian
Cavett, Dick
Quanitities:
0.11 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Lillian Davis Roberts, born January 2, 1928, served from 2002 through 2014 as the
Executive Director of District Council 37 (DC37), the largest municipal union in New
York City.
Roberts was a nurse's aide, and was secretary of the University of Chicago Hospital
local when she was invited by Victor Gotbaum to join his AFSCME union staff in Chicago
in 1959. When Gotbaum became head of DC37, Roberts joined him in New York as a director
of hospital field operations, and eventually became Associate Director in charge of
organization. In 1969, she was jailed for two weeks for defying New York Governor
Nelson Rockefeller and leading a strike against three mental hospitals.
In 1981, she left the union and was appointed as New York State industrial commissioner.
She was the first African-American woman to hold this post in New York. From 1987
to 1992, she was senior vice president of Total Health Systems, an HMO. Roberts returned
to DC37 as Executive Director in 2002. She retired at the end of 2014 and was succeeded
by her associate Henry Garrido.
This oral history with Lillian Davis Roberts was conducted by Dick Cavett in February
1981. In it she describes her childhood in Chicago, how she moved to New York City
to organize hospital workers, and became Associate Director of District Council 37.
Roberts discusses communist infiltration of unions, women's liberation, being jailed
for striking, negotiations, and her organizing efforts.
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
Lillian Roberts Interview #5134 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: /4032 AV: ILR School 20th Annual Wilhelm Weinberg Labor-Management Public Interest
Seminar Audio-Visual Materials 5619/006: ACTWU Executive Vice-President's Office Files 5780/083: ILGWU Sol Chaikin Papers 5933 P: Local 1199 Photograph Files 6152: New York State Department of Labor Files 6174/001: NYSUT President's Office Files 6174/004: NYSUT Field Services Department Files 6342 OHT: "Twentieth Century Trade Union Women: Vehicle for Social Change" Oral History
Transcripts
Names:
Cavett, Dick
Roberts, Lillian
AFSCME. District Council 37 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Women labor union members > United States
CONTAINER LIST
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Box 1 | 1 |
Lillian Roberts interviewed by Dick Cavett on 13 Feb. 1981
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1981 |