Quan Katie ILGWU Papers and Publications, 1974-1989
Collection Number: 6036/095

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, and 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. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.

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Katie Quan ILGWU Papers and Publications #6036/095. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Collections: 5780/059: ILGWU Local 23-25 Records 5780/059 P: ILGWU Local 23-25 Photographs 5780/059 PUBS: ILGWU Local 23-25 Publications 5780/095: ILGWU Local 23-25 Records 5780/095 G: ILGWU Local 23-25 graphics 6000/024: UNITE Local 23-25 Records 6000/024 Av: UNITE Local 23-25 Audio-Visual Materials 6000/024 MB: UNITE Local 23-25 Memorabilia 6000/024 P: UNITE Local 23-25 Photographs 6000/024 PUBS: UNITE Local 23-25 Publications 6000/050: UNITE Local 10 and Local 23-25 Files 6000/050 AV: UNITE Local 10 and Local 23-25 Audio-Visual Materials 6000/050 MB: UNITE Local 10 and Local 23-25 Memorabilia 6000/050 P: UNITE Local 10 and Local 23-25 Photographs 6000/050 PUBS: UNITE Local 10 and Local 23-25 Publications 6200/005: UNITE HERE Local 23-25 Files 6200/005 MB: UNITE HERE Local 23-25 Memorabilia 6200/005 P: UNITE HERE Local 23-25 Photographs 6036/095 MB: Katie Quan ILGWU Memorabilia