ILGWU. Miscellany,, 1904-1986
Collection Number: 5780/200

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU. Miscellany, 1904-1986
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/200
Abstract:
This collection contains assorted periodicals, including issues of Justice, Giustizia, and Die Gleichheit.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Quanitities:
5.67 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English, Italian, and Yiddish.

Biographical / Historical

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was founded in New York City in 1900 by mostly Socialist immigrant workers who sought to unite the various crafts in the growing women's garment industry. The union soon reflected changes in the sector and rapidly organized thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled women, mostly Jewish and Italian young immigrants. Exemplifying the "new unionism," the ILGWU led two of the most widespread and best-known industrial strikes of the early Twentieth Century: the shirtwaist makers' strike of 1909 in New York City and the cloak makers' strike of 1910 in Chicago. The union also tried to adapt to the fragmented and unstable nature of the industry. It adopted the "protocol of peace," a system of industrial relations that attempted to ensure stability and limit strikes and production disruption by providing for an arbitration system to resolve disputes.
The ILGWU exemplified the European-style social unionism of its founding members. They pursued bread and butter issues but provided educational opportunities, benefits, and social programs to union members as well. In 1919, the ILGWU became the first American union to negotiate an unemployment compensation fund that was contributed to by its employers. The ILGWU also pioneered in the establishment of an extremely progressive health care program for its members which included not only regional Union Health Centers but also a resort for union workers, known as Unity House. The Union also had an imaginative and pioneering Education Department which not only trained workers in traditional union techniques, but provided courses in citizenship and the English language.
David Dubinsky, an immigrant from Belarus who came to the US in 1911, provided strong leadership that led to unprecedented growth in the union during his presidency from 1932 to 1966. He led the union through successful internal anti-communist struggles, built on the ascendancy of industrial unionism by encouraging the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization, and helped the union become an important political force in New York City and state politics, and in the national Democratic Party and Liberal Party as well.
In the period following the Second World War, the union suffered a decline in membership as manufacturers avoided unionization and took advantage of less expensive labor by moving shops from the urban centers in the northeast to the south, and later abroad. The ethnic and racial character of the ILGWU also changed as European immigrants were supplanted by Asians, Latin Americans, African- Americans, and immigrants from the Caribbean.
In July 1995 the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) at a joint convention, forming UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees). At the time the new union had a membership of about 250,000 in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

This collection contains assorted periodicals, including issues of Justice, Giustizia, and Die Gleichheit.
The ILGWU Records, except for publications and materials produced for publication, are restricted. Materials created prior to twenty years from the current date are open to researchers only with prior written permission from the Director of the Kheel Center; materials created during the past twenty-years are closed; the minutes of the General Executive Board are closed. For more information contact the Kheel Center.
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. Miscellany. 5780/200. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.

Related Materials

5780. ILGWU records
5780/061. ILGWU. Miscellany

SUBJECTS

Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
Women's clothing industry--Labor unions--New York (State)
Industrial relations--New York (State)

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
Bound book of meeting minutes
1904-1911
Scope and Contents
Wrapped in tissue paper. Mostly handwritten. Very brittle
Box 1 Folder 2
Jerusalem The Saga of the Holy City
1954
Scope and Contents
Limited edition copy
Box 1 Folder 3
Givstizia
1930-1931
Scope and Contents
Justice in Italian. Bound issues (Jan. 1930-Mar. 1931) Very brittle
Box 1 Folder 4
Scrap book – The I.L.G.'er, Upper South Dept. and Baltimore Joint Board
1956-1959
Scope and Contents
May 1956-May 1959. 8 copies
Box 1 Folder 5
Giustizia
Scope and Contents
Justice in Italian. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 1 Folder 6
ILGWU News-History, 1900-1950, ILGWU Golden Jubilee Convention, Atlantic City – Booklet – 3 copies
Box 2 Folder 1
Advertisement from – Fashion of the Times – magazine
Box 2 Folder 2
Amerika, no. 65
Box 2 Folder 3
The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Hebrew University, edited by E.L. Sukenik
1955
Box 2 Folder 4
Die Gleichheit
1916
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 2 Folder 5
The Gleichheit
1922
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 2 Folder 6
The Gleichheit
1914
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 2 Folder 7
The Gleichheit
1919
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 2 Folder 8
The Gleichheit
1916
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 2 Folder 9
S/ant on Western Massachusetts District
1958
Scope and Contents
vol.1,no.1-2 (1958) ; vol.2,no.1- 2 (1958) ; vol.3,no.3-9 (1958)
Box 2 Folder 9
The Springfield Massachusetts Sunday Republican
1961
Scope and Contents
May 28, 1961. Brittle
Box 2 Folder 10
Arbitration of grievances
1946
Box 2 Folder 10
Acceptability as a Factor in Arbitration under an Existing Agreement by William E. Simkin
1952
Box 2 Folder 10
The Arbitration Journal
1986
Scope and Contents
Sept. 1986
Box 3 Folder 1
The Gleichheit
1926
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 3 Folder 2
The Gleichheit
1915
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 3 Folder 3
The Gleichheit
1923
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 3 Folder 4
The Gleichheit
1920
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 3 Folder 5
The Gleichheit
1925
Scope and Contents
Justice in Yiddish. Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 4 Folder 1
Justice
1919
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Very brittle. 2 copies
Box 4 Folder 2
Justice
1945
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 4 Folder 3
Justice
1920
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 4 Folder 4
Justice
1937-1938
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 4 Folder 5
Justice
1939-1940
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Very brittle
Box 5 Folder 1
Folder of correspondence and reports from Green Dolmatch Inc. Advertising
Box 5 Folder 2
Folder with miscellaneous correspondence about advertising
Box 5 Folder 3
The News
1980
Scope and Contents
Thurs., Jan. 31,1980. Partial issue
Box 5 Folder 4
Turkey-The Tasty Impostor. by Craig Claiborne with Pierre Franey
Scope and Contents
Laminated (appears to be a published recipe)
Box 5 Folder 5
Decatur Weekly News
1935
Scope and Contents
Thurs., Feb. 28, 1935 issue (photocopy copy, original too brittle to keep)
Box 5 Folder 6
Justice - bound issues from 1971 brittle
1971
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Brittle
Box 5 Folder 7
Justice – bound issues from 1969 brittle
1969
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Brittle
Box 5 Folder 8
Justice – bound issues from 1970 brittle
1970
Scope and Contents
Bound issues. Brittle
Box 6 Folder 1
The New Post
1910-1911
Scope and Contents
Very brittle
Box 6 Folder 2
The New Post
1912
Scope and Contents
Very brittle
Box 7 Folder 1
Scrapbook of news clippings
1941-1946
Scope and Contents
Very brittle
Box 8 Folder 1
Scrapbook of news clippings
1950-1957
Scope and Contents
miscellaneous other years are included 'loose' inside the front cover, all clippings are Very brittle
Box 8 Folder 2
Scrapbook of news clippings
1935
Scope and Contents
Inside the front cover is a handwritten note "This scrap book was fixed by Ruby Taylor. Her daughter Ada Gordon gave it to Anne Donaley who is giving it to the Illinois Ladies Garment Workers Union, July 16, 1984" Very brittle (place in mylar to try to keep it together)
Box 8 Folder 3
Scrapbook news clippings and other items.
1978-1980
Scope and Contents
Some items are brittle
Box 9 Folder 1
Miscellaneous papers taken out of 5780 O (oversize) – Statements, correspondence, etc.