ILGWU. David Dubinsky Photographs, [1945-1967]
Collection Number: 5780/002 P
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives
Cornell
University Library
Title:
ILGWU. David Dubinsky photographs,
1945-1967
Collection Number:
5780/002 P
Creator:
International Ladies'
Garment Workers' Union.
Quantity:
2.7 linear feet
Forms of Material:
Photographs
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Contains photograph albums presented to David Dubinsky, as
well as photograph albums featuring David Dubinsky between 1945 and 1967. Several
albums document Dubinsky's international travels, as well as his participation in
events in the United States.
Language:
Collection material in English
The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union was founded in New York City in 1900
by mostly Socialist immigrant workers who sought to unite the various crafts in the
growing women’s garment industry. The union soon reflected changes in the sector and
rapidly organized thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled women, mostly Jewish and
Italian young immigrants. Exemplifying the “new unionism,” the ILGWU led two of the
most widespread and best-known industrial strikes of the early Twentieth Century:
the shirtwaist makers’ strike of 1909 in New York City and the cloak makers’ strike
of 1910 in Chicago. The union also tried to adapt to the fragmented and unstable
nature of the industry. It adopted the “protocol of peace,” a system of industrial
relations that attempted to ensure stability and limit strikes and production
disruption by providing for an arbitration system to resolve disputes.
The ILGWU exemplified the European-style social unionism of its founding members.
They pursued bread and butter issues but provided educational opportunities,
benefits, and social programs to union members as well. In 1919, the ILGWU became
the first American union to negotiate an unemployment compensation fund that was
contributed to by its employers. The ILGWU also pioneered in the establishment of an
extremely progressive health care program for its members which included not only
regional Union Health Centers but also a resort for union workers, known as Unity
House. The Union also had an imaginative and pioneering Education Department which
not only trained workers in traditional union techniques, but provided courses in
citizenship and the English language.
David Dubinsky, an immigrant from Belarus who came to the US in 1911, provided strong
leadership that led to unprecedented growth in the union during his presidency from
1932 to 1966. He led the union through successful internal anti-communist struggles,
built on the ascendancy of industrial unionism by encouraging the formation of the
Committee for Industrial Organization, and helped the union become an important
political force in New York City and state politics, and in the national Democratic
Party and Liberal Party as well.
In the period following the Second World War, the union suffered a decline in
membership as manufacturers avoided unionization and took advantage of less
expensive labor by moving shops from the urban centers in the northeast to the
south, and later abroad. The ethnic and racial character of the ILGWU also changed
as European immigrants were supplanted by Asians, Latin Americans, African-
Americans, and immigrants from the Caribbean.
In July 1995 the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
(ACTWU) at a joint convention, forming UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and
Textile Employees). At the time the new union had a membership of about 250,000 in
the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
| 1892 | Born February 22nd in Brest-Litovsk, then in Russia, son of Bezalel and Shaine Wishingrad Dobnievski. | |
| Moved to Lodz, where the family operated a bakery. | ||
| 1903 | Began to work in father's bakery after attending three terms in Hebrew Zionist school. | |
| 1907 | Qualified as master baker and joined bakers' union, organized by the General Jewish Workers Union, the Bund. | |
| Served as secretary of the bakers' union. | ||
| Arrested, together with 60 other members of the union, in the course of a strike; released after payment of 25 rubles by father. | ||
| Left Lodz to live with an uncle in Brest-Litovsk; after three months returned to Lodz and rejoined the bakers' union. | ||
| 1908 | Arrested while attending an illegal meeting of the bakers and, as a second offender, exiled to a small Siberian village. | |
| Escaped and made his way to Chelyabinsk and from there to Lodz, working as a baker under an assumed name. | ||
| 1910 | Sailed, with an older brother, Chaira, to New York City. | |
| 1911 | Arrived in NYC on January 1st. | |
| Lived on Lower East Side and became apprenticed to learn the cutter's craft. | ||
| Accepted as a member of Local 10, Cutters' Union of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, on July 13th. | ||
| 1914 | Married Emma Goldberg, an undergarment operator and member of the ILGWU. (The couple had one child, a daughter, Jean.) | |
| 1918 | Elected to executive board of Local 10. | |
| 1919 | Elected vice-president of Local 10. | |
| 1920 | Elected chairman of Local 10. | |
| 1921 | Elected president of Local 10. | |
| Elected general manager (a new office combining duties of manager and secretary) of Local 10 in December. | ||
| 1922 | Elected vice president of ILGWU and member of General Executive Board. | |
| 1929 | Elected General Secretary-Treasurer of ILGWU. | |
| Served as Acting President of ILGWU. | ||
| 1932 | Elected by GEB in June as President, following death of President Benjamin Schlesinger. | |
| 1934 | Elected vice president of American Federation of Labor in October. | |
| 1935 | Joined with John L. Lewis of Mine Workers and Sidney Hillman of Amalgamated Clothing Workers to form a Committee for Industrial Organization. | |
| First U.S. labor representative to the International Labor Organization. | ||
| 1936. | Joined in founding the American Labor Party in New York State. | |
| Served as Democratic Party elector for the ticket of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John N. Garner. | ||
| 1944 | Joined in founding Liberal Party. | |
| 1945 | Elected vice president of American Federation of Labor. | |
| 1966 | Offered resignation as President to GEB at meeting of March 14th, to take effect April 12th. | |
| Resignation effective June 15th, anniversary of date on which he was first elected President. | ||
| 1982 | Died in New York City on September 17, 1982. |
Contains photograph albums presented to David Dubinsky, as well as photograph albums
featuring David Dubinsky between 1945 and 1967. Several albums document Dubinsky's
international travels, as well as his participation in events in the United
States.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union.
Dubinsky, David, 1892-1982
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United
States.
Labor unions--Clothing workers--United
States.
Clothing workers--United States.
Industrial relations--United States.
Form and Genre Terms:
Photographs.
Access Restrictions:
The ILGWU Records, except for publications and materials produced for
publication, are restricted. Materials created prior to twenty years from the
current date are open to researchers only with prior written permission from the
Director of the Kheel Center; materials created during the past twenty-years are
closed; the minutes of the General Executive Board are closed. For more
information contact the Kheel Center.
Cite As:
ILGWU. David Dubinsky photographs. 5780/002 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell
University.
5780. ILGWU records
5780/002. ILGWU. David Dubinsky correspondence
5780/002 AV. ILGWU. David Dubinsky audio-visual recordings
5780/002 MB. ILGWU. David Dubinsky memorabilia
5780/136. ILGWU. David Dubinsky scrapbooks
5780/179 MB. ILGWU. David Dubinsky memorabilia
5780/179 P. ILGWU. David Dubinsky photographs
"Permanent deposit"
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Photo Album
|
1959 |
|
Visit to Joseph Breslaw Community Center, established by ILGWU, Joint Board
Cloakmakers Unions, Local 35, with the cooperation of the American Histadrut
Campaign
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Photo Album
|
1957 |
|
Homage of the French ORT to Mr. David Dubinsky
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Photo Album
|
1957 |
|
Dedicated to David Dubinsky on occasion of the 20th anniversary of the
Wyoming Valley District. Also contains clippings
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Photo Album
|
1956 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky by La Union Cortadores de Confecciones, Medidas y
Afines
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Photo Album
|
1966 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky by "International House," The Greater Haifa Trade
School of the Histadrut
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Photo Album, War Time Views of Jewish Palestine
|
1945 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky by Executive Committee of the General Federation
of Jewish Labour in Eretz Israel (Palestine)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Photo Album, Laying of the Cornerstone for the Industrial
Co-operative Building at Holon
|
1949 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky by the Central Union of Workers Producers and
Service Co-operative Societies
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Photos of prizes, awards, diplomas presented to David
Dubinsky
|
|
| Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Photo Album
|
1957 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky by ILGWU General Executive Board on the 25th
anniversary of his presidency; includes letters of congratulations and
clippings
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Photo Album
|
1959 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky in appreciation of his participation in the
opening ceremony of Kupat Holim's Central Hospital for the Negev in
Beersheba
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 3 |
President Johnson's State of the Union Message
|
1967 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky from C.L. Dennis, International President,
Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Photo Album
|
1955 |
|
Presented to David and Emma Dubinsky from the Histadrut Executive Bureau on
the occasion of their visit to Israel
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Photo Album
|
1956 |
|
Presented to David Dubinsky after his visit to la Casas de lose Obreros del
Vestido, Argentina
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Photo Album
|
|
|
David Dubinsky in Europe
|
|||