Cook, Alice H. Memorial Celebration Photo Display, 1920-1994
Collection Number: /4238 P

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration Photo Display, 1920-1994
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
/4238 P
Abstract:
"Happy Birthday to an Exemplary Teacher" Photographs, February 1984, are also included in this collection
Creator:
Cook, Alice H.
Quanitities:
1.17 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

Alice Hanson Cook (1903 - 1998) devoted her life to helping working people, and especially working women, on four continents. What she herself called her 'patchwork career' included social work, adult education, labor organizing, a tour of foreign service at the end of World War II, twenty years teaching in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and authoring numerous books and articles. She was a pioneer in bringing attention to issues such as comparable worth, maternity leave, and pay equity, known for both her scholarly writings and her activism on the experiences of working women around the world. Alice attended Northwestern University's School of Speech from 1920-1924, gaining her only formal degree. (She would later receive a number of honorary doctorates, including one from Northwestern.) While enrolled at Northwestern, Alice began her studies of both economics and social work, as well as beginning her lifelong attachment to the ideals of socialism. Early employment with the YWCA's Industrial Department in the 1920s led her to find ways to use the Y for both union support efforts and attempts to organize women workers previously ignored by unions, such as domestic servants. These early efforts with the Y led to Alice's involvement with adult labor education efforts such as the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, Arkansas' Commonwealth College, the Southern Summer School for Workers in North Carolina, and the Hudson Shore School. They also led to her first direct employment by the union movement, as she worked for the early CIO's Textile Workers' Organizing Committee. The 1930s and 40s also mark the beginning of Alice's interests in similar developments around the world. From 1929 to 1931, she studied in Germany under a DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) fellowship, beginning her long association with the German system of adult and labor education. She would return to Germany after World War II, when she became the chief of adult education in Germany's American Zone for the Education Division of the High Commission, Germany. Her travels through Germany at this time combined with her own personal experiences led her to become intrigued with questions of comparative systems of labor education. She would ultimately travel throughout both Western and Eastern Europe as well as Asia in order to carry out her research. Alice's academic career began in 1952, when she was hired by the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. She began as a researcher in the School's extension division, but moved into a full academic teaching position in 1955. She served as a well-respected teacher in the School up to her retirement in 1972.

Collection consists of photographs from Alice's 80th and 90th birthday celebrations. Photographs from her trip to China, England, Wales, Austria, Germany and Hawaii. Includes photos from conferences, visits to colleges and photographs of her family and friends.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
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

Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration Photo Display #/4238 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: /3012 AV: Alice Cook Biographical Reminiscences Audio-Visual Materials /3012: Alice Cook Papers /4209 P: Alice H. Cook Memorial Service Photographs /4282: ILR School Alice Cook 100th Birthday Conference Records /4118 MB: ILR School Alumni Memorabilia

SUBJECTS

Names:
Cook, Alice Hanson--Photographs

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
80th Birthday; 90th Birthday; China, 1978, Binghamton Conference, 1994
1978-1994
Scope and Contents
15 photographs
Box 1 Folder 2
College years; Commonwealth College, 1926; 1920's
1920-1926
Scope and Contents
19 photographs
Box 1 Folder 3
Cornell, 1980's and 1990's
Scope and Contents
36 photographs`
Box 1 Folder 4
England and Wales; Austria and Germany; 1928-1931
1928-1931
Scope and Contents
16 photographs and 1 ID card
Box 1 Folder 5
Family
Scope and Contents
24 photographs
Box 1 Folder 6
Friends
Scope and Contents
21 photographs
Box 1 Folder 7
Hawaii, February 1982; 80th birthday in Hawaii with Gloria Steinem, and the Hawaii Women's Political Action League
1982
Scope and Contents
22 photographs
Box 1 Folder 8
Hudson Shore Labor College, 1939-1944; 1941-1946
1939-1946
Scope and Contents
11 photographs
Box 1 Folder 9
Informal at home
Scope and Contents
32 photographs
Box 1 Folder 10
Japanese Trade Unions, Working Mothers; 1962-1963
1962-1963
Scope and Contents
19 photographs
Box 1 Folder 11
Northwestern University Honorary Doctorate, 1987, Dedication of Cook's Grove; University of Connecticut Honorary Doctorate, 1992
1987- 1992
Scope and Contents
16 photographs
Box 1 Folder 12
Youth Conference in Germany, ca. 1950; Egypt; Germany; Paris
1950-1959
Scope and Contents
17 photographs
Box 2 Folder 1
Alice Cook -- Happy Birthday to an Exemplary Teacher -- February 28, 1984
1984
Scope and Contents
framed collage
Box 3
Images digitized from the collection.