ILGWU. Research Department records, 1884-1948
Collection Number: 5780/045
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Research Department records, 1884-1948
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/045
Abstract:
The collection contains records of predecessor unions and locals of the International
Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
2 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities
in the northeastern United States, the ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership
size, 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. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial
and Textile Employees (UNITE).
Formed in 1937, the Research Department of the International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union (ILGWU) supported the administrative operations of the Union and coordinated
the ILGWU's investigative operations. It provided union leaders with information on
wages, working conditions, economic conditions, and other matters in the women's garment
industry; analyzed information for the union; and monitored developments in the industry.
In addition to providing research for union leadership, Research Department staff
prepared materials for Congressional testimony, presented cases on behalf of local
unions to the War Labor Board, and worked to administer the Fair Labor Standards Act.
At times, the director of the Research Department represented the ILGWU in national
forums.
The Department also maintained an extensive library, collecting and housing documents
from Union administrative staff that were deemed substantive and of lasting value
to the Union, whether produced internally or externally. The information gathered
by the Department was of particular value during labor disputes and contract negotiations.
Lazare Teper was the founding director of the ILGWU's Research Department, working
in that position from 1937 to 1980. Born in Russia sometime between 1906 and 1908,
Teper later studied at the University of Paris and earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins
University. He died in New York City in 1985.
The Research Department records reflect the department's varied functions, documenting
its role in gathering and analyzing information for international and local union
leadership, representing the union before government and labor organizations, and
gathering materials of research, and oftentimes historical, value. Some segments of
the records focus on one aspect of the department's work, and others include documentation
across the department's functions.
Research Department director Lazare Teper's papers, for example, include files relating
to the Wage Stabilization Board (5780/105). The department also maintained records
focused on the National Coat and Suit Industry Board (statements of receipts and disbursements,
label division reports, meetings minutes, bulletins to members, and other reports
and resolutions), as well as some related legal files (5780/123). Also among the documents
collected by the Research Department are the New York Coat and Suit Industry Reports
between 1934 and 1960. (5780/168)
Parts of the Research Department records consist primarily of collected documents
from ILGWU affiliates. In this way, they resemble and, in some instances, complement
the parts of the Archives Department Records (5780/121, 5780/121 PUBS), records generated
by local unions (Series III), and the general collection of ILGWU publications (5780
PUBS). Research Department records of this kind contain records of predecessor unions
to the ILGWU and ILGWU local union records (5780/045), or the annual report, "Conditions
in the Women's Clothing Industry" (5780/078).
Other parts of the Research Department records document all of the department's functions.
These records include financial and administrative reports, meeting minutes, and correspondence
(5780/056, 5780/209), collected printed material (5780/168), and ILGWU statements
on issues related to the garment industry (5780/209).
The Research Department records contains records of predecessor unions and locals
of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, including the United Brotherhood
of Cloakmakers, Local 1; Knights of Labor, Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038; Unity House
Committee of Locals 22, 25, 60, and 66; United Progessive League of Cloak and Dressmakers;
United Progressive League of Local 1; Skirtmakers' Union, Local 5; ILGWU Research
Department; Cincinnati Joint Board; Local 60, and Local 63.
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
ILGWU. Research Department records #5780/045. Kheel Center for Labor- Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/056: ILGWU. Research Department collected documents 5780/078: ILGWU. Research Department reports 5780/105: ILGWU. Research Department records 5780/123: ILGWU. Research Department records 5780/168: ILGWU. Research Department records 5780/209: ILGWU. Research Department records
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Local 23-25 (New York, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Local 60.
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Local 63.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 1 (New York, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 22 (New York, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 66 (New York, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Research Dept.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States
Women's clothing industry--New York (State)--New York.
Labor unions-- Clothing workers--United States.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- New York (State) -- New York
Clothing workers -- United States
Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York.
Industrial relations -- United States
Industrial relations--New York (State)--New York.
Form and Genre Terms:
Records.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Minutes. Knights of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1884 |
Scope and Contents
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Minutes. Knights of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1887-1888 |
Scope and Contents
July 1887 - May 1888. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Minutes. Knights of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1889-1890 |
Scope and Contents
June 1889 - Sept 1890
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Dues Book. Knighst of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1884 |
Scope and Contents
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Dues Book. Knighst of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1888-1892 |
Scope and Contents
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Dues Book. Knights of Labor. Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038
|
1893-1896 |
Scope and Contents
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Payroll Book. Employees in Mississippi. [1 of 2]
|
1946-1948 |
Scope and Contents
Sept 13, 1945.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Payroll Book. Employees in Mississippi. [2 of 2]
|
1946-1948 |
Scope and Contents
Sept 13, 1945.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Shop List by U.S. Industry
|
|
Scope and Contents
Undated. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Payroll and Expense Book. Finance department. ILGWU
|
1918 |
Scope and Contents
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Notes and Minutes. Cloakmakers Union, Local 63
|
1910-1913 |
Scope and Contents
Cincinnati, Ohio. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Cincinnati Joint Board. Minutes.
|
1926-1928 |
Scope and Contents
Written in an "Outgoing Members" register. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
United Brotherhood of Cloakmakers, Local No. 1 of New York and Vicinity
|
1898 |
Scope and Contents
Dues books, Contract, and Constitution.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Minutes. Local 5. Skirtmakers Union, NYC.
|
1901-1905 |
Scope and Contents
Yiddish. May 1901 - May 9, 1905. Local 5 later known as Local 23. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Dues Book. Unidentified.
|
1907-1909 |
Scope and Contents
Sept 16, 1907 - May 24, 1909. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Minutes. Progressive League of Local 1, N.Y.
|
1930-1933 |
Scope and Contents
United Progress League of Cloak and Dressmakers, N.Y., Oct 1930-1931; Local 1, 1931-1933.
Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Minutes. Unity House Committee.
|
1923 |
Scope and Contents
Locals 22, 25, 60, and 66. Bound volume.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Minutes. Dress and Waist Pressers Union. Local 60
|
1935-1940 |
Scope and Contents
Yiddish. Bound volume.
|