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.
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.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
ILGWU. Miscellany. 5780/200. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives,
Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU records
5780/061. ILGWU. Miscellany
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.
|