Fabio Schettini ILGWU Photographs, 1944-1971
Collection Number: 6036/102 P
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Fabio Schettini ILGWU Photographs, 1944-1971
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6036/102 P
Abstract:
This collection consists of photographs documenting Fabio Schettini's involvment in
the ILGWU, the AFL-CIO, the Liberal Party of New York, and his work on the mayoral
campaign of John Lindsay.
Creator:
Schettini, Fabio, :International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quanitities:
0.89 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
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.
Fabio Schettini was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1909. He earned his
Bachelor of Science fron City College in 1943. Mr. Schettini joined ILGWU Local 48
in May 1944, where his mother-in-law was already a member. He worked as a business
agent, price adjuster, and union organizer for the ILGWU. Mr. Schettini participated
in the Mirror Coat Strike in 1949 and organized for the ILGWU in Bensonhurst neighborhood
in Brooklyn.
According to his ILGWU autobiography (see Collection 5087/177, Box 2, Folder 30),
he "learned [his] trade in Italy for four years and had [his] entire education in
the evening schools of New York City. [He] was for 16 years a member of the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers of America."
In 1964, he ran for New York State Assembly as the Liberal Party candidate, loosing
to Democrat Noah Goldstein. In 1965, he ran for New York City Council as a Liberal
Party candidate and campaigned for Republican John Lindsay's mayoral campaign.
Mr. Schettini was married to Antoinette Schettini. Together they had five children:
Roland, Elaine, Linda, Nicholas, and Terry. His widow and children donated the materials
in this collection.
Local 48 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as
the Italian Cloakmakers' Union, was chartered by members of Local 1 and Local 35 in
1916 and based in New York, New York. As membership and industry declined in the 1970s,
the local became Local 48 United Coat, Suit and Allied Garment Workers' Union of Brooklyn,
Queens and Staten Island (coat and suit workers in all crafts in Brooklyn, Queens
and Staten Island), and later Local 48 Coat, Suit, Dress, Rainwear and Allied Workers
Union of North Brooklyn. In late 1981, the Joint Board approved a measure to dissolve
Local 48, and Local 89 was renamed Local 89-48 to honor the historic significance
of the Italian cloakmakers.
This collection consists of photographs documenting Mr. Schettini's participation
in various ILGWU conferences and conventions, his support of John Lindsay during his
run for mayor of New York City, and his attendence at other union events. Of note
are the panoramic pictures documenting the attendees of ILGWU conventions in Atlantic
City, New Jersey and Miami Beach, Florida.
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
Fabio Schettini ILGWU Photographs #6036/102 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 6036/102 PUBS: Fabio Schettini ILGWU Publications 6036/102 MB:
Fabio Schettini ILGWU Memorabilia 6036/102m: Fabio Schettini ILGWU Files 5780/040: ILGWU Local 48 Records 5780/177: ILGWU Communications Department Biography Files
Names:
Schettini, Fabio
Lindsay, John V. (John Vliet)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 48 (New York, N.Y.)
Liberal Party of New York State.
Subjects:
Clothing workers > Labor unions >United States.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- New York (State) -- New York
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Miscellaneous 4x6 photographs. [some are have names of individuals or events]
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Group photo, unidentified, except for the folder the photo was in which is from the
Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Miscellaneous photographs, mostly 8x10, some are identified, the majority are not
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Election flyers for Fabio Schettini, for his bid for City Councilman
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
copies of miscellaneous photographs
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Sergeants at Arms - Thirty-First Convention (1962)
|
1962 |