Lila Gardner Collection of Alice H. Cook Correspondence
Collection Number: /4356m
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
Lila Gardner Collection of Alice
H. Cook Correspondence, 1990-1996
Collection Number:
/4356m
Creator:
Gardner, Lila;
Cook, Alice
Cook, Alice
Quantity:
1 file folder.
Forms of Material:
Records (documents), correspondence,
photographs.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Collection consists of correspondence between Alice H. Cook
and Lila Gardner and four color photographs from Alice Cook's visit to Hawaii in
1992.
Language:
Collection material in English
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.
Names:
Cook, Alice H., 1903-1988
Gradner, Lila.
New York State School of Industrial and Labor
Relations655
Form and Genre Terms:
Records (documents)
Correspondence
Photographs
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a
reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet
and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
Lila Gardner Collection of Alice H. Cook Correspondence #/4356m. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
/3012: Alice Cook Papers
/3012 AV: Alice Cook Biographical Reminiscences Audio-Visual Materials
/3081: SUNY Files
/4209 P: Alice H. Cook Memorial Service Photographs
/4238 P: Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration Photo Display
/4270: Francine Herman collection of Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration files
/4282: ILR School Alice Cook 100th Birthday Conference Records
/4282 AV: ILR School Alice Cook 100th Birthday Conference Audio-Visual Materials
/3012: Alice Cook Papers
/3012 AV: Alice Cook Biographical Reminiscences Audio-Visual Materials
/3081: SUNY Files
/4209 P: Alice H. Cook Memorial Service Photographs
/4238 P: Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration Photo Display
/4270: Francine Herman collection of Alice H. Cook Memorial Celebration files
/4282: ILR School Alice Cook 100th Birthday Conference Records
/4282 AV: ILR School Alice Cook 100th Birthday Conference Audio-Visual Materials
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1990-1996 |