ACWA Bessie Hillman Papers, 1922-1996
Collection Number: 5619/005
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ACWA Bessie Hillman Papers, 1922-1996
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5619/005
Creator:
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA)
Hillman, Bessie Abramowitz
Quanitities:
0.5 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the most significant union representing
workers in the men's clothing industry, was founded in New York City in 1914 as a
breakaway movement from the United Garment Workers. Radical and immigrant workers
in the tailors' and cutters' locals were the core of the seceding group, which advocated
industrial unionism and economic strikes in opposition to the UGW's craft organization,
which they saw as conservative and timid. Their diverging views had come to the fore
during the historic 1910 dispute at the Chicago firm Hart, Schaffner, and Marx. The
opposition called the strike against the UGW leadership's advice, and reached a path-breaking
agreement with management that established an arbitration system to settle disputes.
Members flocked to the new union. Around 50,000 strong at its founding, by 1920 the
ACWA counted about 170,000 members. Initially composed mostly of immigrants of Jewish
European descent with Socialist leanings, the ACWA quickly welcomed members of a great
number of nationalities and diverse backgrounds. Like in other garment unions, most
workers and many members were women, but the leadership was predominantly male, a
situation that did not change for many decades. Early on the union adopted a centralized
administrative structure combined with industrial unionism, with the joint boards'
by-laws having precedence over those of locals.
Espousing a philosophy perhaps brought over by its early immigrant socialist members,
the Amalgamated went beyond bread and butter issues and adopted a distinctive form
of social unionism that was largely absent in the American labor movement. Starting
in the 1920s, it provided educational opportunities and recreational facilities for
its members, as well as services such as an insurance plan, banks offering personal
loans at low interest rates, low-cost housing cooperatives, medical clinics, and even
union-owned restaurants.
Sidney Hillman was the first president of the new union and the most important officer
in its history. He applied his experience as bargaining representative in Chicago
to the whole industry. Under his leadership the union made significant strides in
securing better wages and working conditions for its members, and at the same time
it consolidated gains and provided stability to the industry through the widespread
adoption of the arbitration system tested at Hart, Schaffner, and Marx. Hillman paid
close attention to industry issues, such as production, pricing, and marketing. In
order to help management meet the competition of non-union firms, the union conducted
studies of efficiency, work methods, and factory costs. Letters to the official publication
of the union, Advance, document the controversy that ensued within the union over
what was perceived to be collaboration with management.
Hillman also understood the importance of labor's involvement in national affairs
and political action. In the 1920s the ACWA sent delegates to the Conference for Progressive
Political Action and to the Farmer-labor party conventions. Although many members
and officers were Socialists, the union stopped short of officially endorsing the
party. Communist attempts at gaining influence within the union were firmly curbed.
Hillman's participation in national affairs and politics became prominent during the
New Deal, when he became a close advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt on labor and economic
issues. He also served on the board of the National Recovery Administration. Later,
during World War II, he helped establish the Labor's Non Partisan League. He was also
named associate director of the Office of Production Management, which assisted in
mobilizing the nation's resources for the war effort. Hillman's prestige perhaps reflected
the healthy condition of his union, which by the end of the conflict was strong and
stable.
During the post World War II period the union faced a number of significant challenges.
Membership continued to grow (peaking at 395,000 in 1968), but the union's political
influence and visibility in national affairs declined. In their never ending pursuit
of lower production costs, many firms relocated to the South, forcing the union to
engage in large organizing efforts. Simultaneously, signs began to appear of changes
that would lead to the almost complete demise of the domestic apparel industry and,
ultimately, to the erosion of union membership. Foreign imports of cheap clothing
goods steadily grew in the 1950s and 1960s, and mushroomed in the following two decades,
plunging employment in the apparel sector into a steady decline. Union efforts to
stem the tide included Buy American campaigns and extensive lobbying in Congress,
but they were to no avail. In 1976, the ACWA merged with the Textile Workers of America
to become the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Despite successful and
much publicized nationwide actions such as the Farah boycott and the J.P. Stevens
corporate campaign, the woes threatening the union's existence continued unabated.
The fate of the domestic industry was sealed in the late 1970s and the 1980s by the
flight of firms chasing tax breaks and cheap labor abroad. By 1995, when ACTWU voted
to merge with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, their combined membership
was 350,000. The new Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE!)
seemed poised to infuse new life in a troubled union.
Bessie Abramowitz Hillman was born May 15, 1889 in Russia and immigrated to the United
States in 1905. At the age of 16 she began working in a garment factory. She was later
fired after organizing to protest working conditions. Using an alias, she found work
as a button sewer at the Hart, Schaffner, and Marx factory. She continued labor movement
activity, leading a walkout of 16 female garment workers in September 1910 that grew
into a strike of thousands of workers.
She married Sidney Hillman in 1916. When he moved to New York City to become president
of the AWCA until his death in 1946, Bessie continued her union activities as an unpaid
volunteer. She was appointed Education Director of the Laundry Workers Joint Board
(part of the ACWA). After Sidney Hillman's death she accepted a paid position as an
ACWA Vice President in charge of the union's education programs. She was also involved
in civil rights, child welfare, women's rights, and peace movement activities. She
remained involved in union activities until her death on December 23, 1970.
Bessie Hillman served with the CIO and AFL-CIO Civil Rights Committees, the CIO Community
Services Committee, the National Consumers League, the American Labor Education Service,
Inc., the Committee on Protective Labor Legislation, the Child Welfare Committee of
New York, and the Defense Advisory Commission on Women in the Services, and she was
appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the President's Commission on the Status
of Women.
This collection consists of articles, memorabilia, and photographs by, or about, Bessie
Hillman.
Also included are newspaper clippings and correspondence regarding the death of her
husband, Sidney Hillman.
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
ACWA Bessie Hillman Papers #5619/005. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5619: ACWA Records 5619 AV: ACTWU Audio-Visual Materials 5619 C-S MB: ACTWU President Jack Sheinkman Additional Books, Memorabilia, and Files 5619 F: ACTWU Motion Picture Films 5619 G: ACTWU Graphics 5619 MB: ACTWU Memorabilia Collection 5619 mf: ACWA Records Parts 1-3 on Microfilm 5619 OH: ACWA Oral History Project Records 5619 P: ACTWU Photographs 5619 PUBS: ACTWU Publications 5619/001: ACTWU Collective Bargaining Agreements 5619/002: ACWA Education Department Records 5619/003: ACWA Sidney Hillman Scrapbooks 5619/004: ACTWU President Jacob Sheinkman Files 5619/004 fiche: ACTWU President Jacob Sheinkman Speeches on Microfiche 5619/006: ACTWU Executive Vice-President's Office Files 5619/007: ACTWU Organizing Department Files 5619/008: ACWA Rieve-Pollock Foundation Files 5619/009: ACTWU Operations Department Sidney Hillman Awards Files 5619/010: ACWA Jacob Potofsky files 5619/011: ACTWU Southern Regional Joint Board Files 5619/012: ACTWU Company Files 5619/013: ACTWU Research Department Correspondence Chronological Files 5619/014: ACWA Local 169 Files 5619/015: ACTWU Department of Occupational Safety and Health Files
Names:
Hillman, Bessie
Hillman, Sidney, 1887-1946
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees
UNITE HERE (Organization)
Subjects:
Textile workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
test
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Bessie Hillman
|
1922-1996 |
Scope and Contents
Membership Cards, Articles, Photographs
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Death of Sidney Hillman
|
1946-1987 |
Scope and Contents
News Articles, Photographs
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
"Labor in the United States" by Sidney Hillman and "Unemployment Reserves" by Sidney
Hillman
|
1929-1931 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Senate Congressional Record
|
1946 |
Scope and Contents
July 11, 1946
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Records of Referendum Vote and Presidential Election Vote
|
1954 |
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Christmas Cards from George Meany, John L. Lewis, and Joseph Keenan
|