Levine. Louis. Women's Garment Workers, Manuscript., 1924-1924
Collection Number: 6036/005
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Levine. Louis. Women's Garment Workers Manuscript., 1924-1924
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6036/005
Abstract:
This collection includes drafts of Louis Levine's "The Women's Garment Workers" (1924),
notes and collected materials about the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Creator:
Levine, Louis
Quanitities:
2.5 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).
Louis Levine (Lewis Lorwin) was a noted economist and labor historian. He was born
in the Ukraine on December 3, 1883. After coming to the United States as a young boy
and studying both in the U. S. and abroad, he received a Ph. D. from Columbia University
in 1912. Levine was an economic advisor for the New York State Labor Department from
1912 to 1916. He held numerous lecturer and professorship positions at colleges and
universities across the country including Columbia, Wellesley College, University
of Montana, and Beloit College. Levine was a staff member at the Brookings Institution
from 1925 to 1935 and also taught and served as acting director at the Brookings Graduate
School of Economics and Government. In 1934, Levine helped to found the National Planning
Association, and beginning in 1935, he was an economic advisor to the International
Labor Office in Geneva. During the 1940s, Levine served as an economic advisor to
various agencies including the National Resources Planning Board, the Foreign Economic
Administration, and the Office of International Trade in the Department of Commerce.
Levine authored many books on economics and international relations such as "The
Labor Movement in France," "The Taxation of Mines in Montana," and "The Women's Garment
Workers." In 1961, Levine was the recipient of the John Dewey Medal from the League
for Industrial Democracy. He died in June 1970 at the age of 86.
Published in 1924, "The Women's Garment Workers" is a comprehensive history of the
first twenty four years of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. The book
also provides background information on the women's garment industry, its beginnings,
early conditions, struggles, and the initial attempts at unionization which laid the
foundation for the birth of the ILGWU. The collection encompasses author Louis Levine's
research and notes for "The Women's Garment Workers," offering a glimpse into his
writing process. Included are handwritten notes by Levine reviewing AFL convention
proceedings to find references to the ILGWU, and notes and research on benefits, such
as death, disability, sick and strike. There are clippings and collected articles
on various topics along with Levine's notes on subjects ranging from Chicago cloak
makers, the cloak and suit industry, and financial information. Levine took notes
after reviewing the General Executive Board meeting minutes. Also available is material
from various locals. Part of the collection is arranged by specific topics, including
organizing, hours and wages, socialism, strike reports, as well as miscellaneous material
at the end of the collection arranged by date. The other half of the collection is
arranged by chapters for the book and contains notes, research, facts and dates. Of
particular interest to the researcher is the large amount of research and primary
sources that Levine has collected for the purpose of writing his book that provides
historical information on the ILGWU.
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
Levine. Louis. Women's Garment Workers, Manuscript. #6036/005. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records
Names:
Levine, Louis.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union -- Archives.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
American Federation of Labor
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Benefits
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Chapters 1-4
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Chapter 5
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Chapter 7
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Chapter 8
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Chapter 9
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Chapter 10
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Chapter 11 (10-13?)
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Chapter 12
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Chapter 13
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
Chapter 14
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Chapter 15
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
Chapter 16
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Chapter 19
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
Chapter 20
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Chapter 21
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Chapter 22
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Chapter 23
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Chapter 24
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Chapter 25
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Chapter 26; Hourwich Affair
|
1913-1914 |
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Chapter 27
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Chapter 28
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Chapter 31
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 10 |
Chapter 34
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 11 |
Chapter 35
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 12 |
Chapter 36
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 13 |
Chapter 37
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Cloak industry, Canada
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 2 |
Cloakmakers, Chicago
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Cloak and suit industry, New York
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 4 |
Cloak and suit industry, New York
|
1912-1913 |
Box 3 | Folder 5 |
Cloak industry, New York
|
1918-1922 |
Box 3 | Folder 6 |
Cloak industry joint board, New York
|
1912-1916 |
Box 3 | Folder 7 |
Cloak industry, Philadelphia
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 8 |
Council of conciliatoin
|
1915-1916 |
Box 3 | Folder 9 |
Finances
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 10 |
General Executive Board Minutes
|
1914-1923 |
Box 4 | Folder 1 |
Herman Grossman and strike call
|
1916 |
Box 4 | Folder 2 |
Hillquit, Blumberg, Uviller (jobber-contractor)
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 3 |
History of the union
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 4 |
Hours of labor
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 5 |
Jurisdictional disputes
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 6 |
Ladies' Garment Workers reviews
|
1924-1932 |
Scope and Contents
Includes letter from Fannia Cohn.
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 7 |
Leaflets, union
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 8 |
Leaflets, circulars and publications, union and non-union
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 9 |
Locals, general
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 10 |
Local 10
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 11 |
Local 15 and 50, Philadelphia Waist and Dressmakers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 12 |
Local 20, Raincoat workers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 13 |
Local 33 and 34, Corset workers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 14 |
Local 66, Embroidery workers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 15 |
Local 90, Ladies tailors, dressmakers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 16 |
New York Times references
|
1914-1916 |
Box 4 | Folder 17 |
Newspaper clippings
|
1915-1924 |
Box 4 | Folder 18 |
Newspaper clippings, problems in needle trades
|
1922 |
Box 4 | Folder 19 |
Organizing out-of-town shops
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 20 |
Problems and programs
|
1923-1924 |
Box 4 | Folder 21 |
References, 16-20
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 22 |
Resolutions-International office, General Executive Board, meetings and organizers
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 23 |
Resolutions-Ideals and theories
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 24 |
Resolutions-Policies and methods
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 25 |
Socialism and Women's suffrage
|
|
Box 5 | Folder 1 |
St. Louis, Louisville
|
|
Box 5 | Folder 2 |
State reports
|
|
Box 5 | Folder 3 |
Strike reports
|
1909-1910 |
Scope and Contents
Chapter 21, part 3.
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 4 |
Trachtenberg, Alexander, Director of ILGWU Department of Records and Research
|
1920-1921 |
Scope and Contents
Correspondence.
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 5 |
Waist and dress protocal, analysis of meetings
|
1913-1916 |
Box 5 | Folder 6 |
Miscellaneous material, general
|
|
Box 5 | Folder 7 |
Miscellaneous material
|
|
Box 5 | Folder 8 |
Miscellaneous material
|
1918-1923 |
Box 5 | Folder 9 |
Miscellaneous material
|
1913-1914 |
Box 5 | Folder 10 |
Miscellaneous material
|
1910-1914 |
Box 5 | Folder 11 |
Miscellaneous material
|
1903-1907 |
Box 5 | Folder 12 |
Miscellaneous material
|
1900-1910 |