ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers, 1918-1962
Collection Number: 5780/049

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers, 1918-1962
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/049
Abstract:
The collection contains correspondence, subject files, speeches, articles, photographs, and programs from Fannia Cohn's term as Executive Secretary of the ILGWU Education Department.
Creator:
Cohn, Fannia M. (Fannia Mary), 1885-
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
6 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

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).

Biographical / Historical

Fannia Cohn, garment worker, labor organizer and educator, and officer of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. She was born in Minsk in the late 1880s (there is disagreement as to the exact year). Cohn emigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and began working in a New York garment factory in 1905. She joined the ILGWU in 1909 and quickly emerged as a skilled leader and organizer. She was the first woman vice-president of the ILGWU and in 1918 became Executive Secretary of the Education Department, a position she held until her retirement in 1961. Cohn played a significant role in worker education and was a co-founder of both the Workers' Education Bureau and the Brookwood Labor College. She died in 1962 in New York City.

Biographical / Historical

Local union's of the ILGWU established and maintained robust, ambitious educational departments early on in the international's history. As these groups grew in size and scope, the international office sought to coordinate and centralize educational programming for the union's members, culminating in the formation of the Educational Department in 1918.
The department's programming included courses at the Workers' University at the Washington Irving High School in New York City, lectures at Unity Centers and Unity Houses in the northeastern United States, and other events. The educational offerings of the International's Education Department were varied, as had been the education departments of the local unions, and included not only classes in labor studies but also courses in languages, music, and the arts. The ILGWU's 1937 musical "Pins and Needles" exemplified the diversity of the union's programs.
Directors of the Education Department, especially Fannia Cohn and Mark Starr, wrote extensively on the ILGWU's programs and worker education in general. Longtime director Gus Tyler not only directed the department, but also served as the ILGWU's on-staff scholar. In later years, the Education Department went beyond collaborating with other education organizations and arranging in-house programs to also supporting post-secondary education for union members and their families.

The Education Department records document activities across the entire period of the department's existence, with the bulk of the records covering the 1970s and 1990s. It contains papers from directors of the Education Department: Fannia Cohn, Mark Starr, Gus Tyler, and Kitty Krupat.
The earliest documentation of the department's work is found in the Fannia Cohn papers (5780/049, 5780/049 P); these contain correspondence, subject files, speeches, photographs, and printed material from her work as director of the Educational Department. A microfilm copy of the Fannia Cohn papers held at the New York Public Library (5998 mf) complements the Kheel Center's holdings. Documentation of the work of another longtime leader of the Education Department, Mark Starr, is contained in these records (5780/166, 5780/166 PUBS), as well as in a related collection from Starr on worker education programs (5243).
Documentation of the work of Gus Tyler, who led the merged Education and Political Department after Mark Starr's retirement in 1960, is also contained in the ILGWU records (5780/052, 5780/088, 5780/096). Tyler's papers are complemented by those of Assistant Director Jasper Peyton (5780/086) and Special Projects Coordinator Beverly Shulman (5780/106). These collections contain routine correspondence and memoranda, reports, materials relating to training institutes, seminars, and conferences, and printed material.
The papers of Kitty Krupat, who was serving as Education Director at the time of the ILGWU/ACTWU merger in 1995, constitute the entirety of Education Department records from the 1990s. They include correspondence, memoranda, reports, and financial records relating to the ILGWU's independent and collaborative education projects, including the Worker-Family Education Program, the Joint Union-University Committee on Labor Education, and the Consortium for Worker Education, as well as numerous trainings, conferences, and seminars. Also included in the files are materials from local unions and regional departments of the ILGWU, files on the Internationals' conventions, and reports to the General Executive Board.
The Fannia Cohn papers (5780/049) contain correspondence, subject files, speeches, articles, photographs, and programs from Fannia Cohn's term as Executive Secretary of the ILGWU Education Department. The materials in Series I are primarily letters between Cohn and various individuals pertaining to trade union matters in general and the ILGWU in particular. Included in the series are programs for lectures, concerts, museum visits and tours of New York City that were offered to ILGWU members and others as part of the Education Department's activities. Series II consists of bulletins, articles, lectures and course outlines. Most of these materials were written by Cohn herself or were prepared under her direction for use at the union's Unity Centers and at the Workers' University. A number of articles are by Mark Starr. There are also lectures by Charles A. Beard; Robert Brure; Babette Deutsch; Paul H. Douglas; Harry Laidler; A.J. Muste; Grace Scribner; Alexander Trachtenberg; Carl Van Doren; and Theresa Wolfson, among others. Significant individuals represented in the collection include David Dubinsky, Samuel Gompers, Morris Sigman ,Rose Pesotta, and H.G. Wells. Organizations include the Education Department of the ILGWU, the Brookwood Labor College, the AFL, Pioneer Youth of America, the Rand School of Social Science, and Unity House.
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

ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers #5780/049. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/106: ILGWU. Education Department. Beverly Shulman papers 5780/138: ILGWU. Education Department. Kitty Krupat papers 5780/166: ILGWU. Education Department records 5780/166 PUBS: ILGWU. Education Department publications 5780/086: ILGWU. Education Department. Jasper Peyton papers 5780/049 P: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn photographs 5780/049 mf: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers. Microfilm

SUBJECTS

Names:
Beard, Charles A.(Charles Austin), 1874-1948.
Brue`re, Robert W.(Robert Walter), 1876-1964.
Cohn, Fannia M.(Fannia Mary), 1885-
Deutsch, Babette, 1895-
Douglas, Paul Howard, 1892-
Dubinsky, David, 1892-1982.
Gompers, Samuel, 1850-1924.
Laidler, Harry Wellington, 1884-1970.
Muste, Abraham John, 1885-1967.
Scribner, Grace, 1882-1922.
Sigman, Morris, 1880-1931.
Starr, Mark, 1894-
Trachtenberg, Alexander.
Van Doren, Carl, 1885-1950.
Wells, H. G.(Herbert George), 1866-1946.
Wolfson, Theresa, 1897-1972.
American Federation of Labor.
Brookwood Labor College (Katonah, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Educational Dept.
Pioneer Youth of America.
Rand School of Social Science.
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Labor unions--Officials and employees.
Labor movement.
Labor movement--United States.
Labor unions.
Labor unions-- United States.
Labor unions and education--United States.
Working class--Education--United States.
Form and Genre Terms:
Articles.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
A
1921-1959
Box 1 Folder 2
Agricultural Dept., U.S.
1938
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Resettlement and Farm Security Administrations with Arch A. Mercey.
Box 1 Folder 3
American Federation of Labor
1918-1954
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Samuel Gompers & C. Thorne.
Box 1 Folder 3
American Labor Education Service, Inc. (formerly the Affiliated School for Workers)
1936-1941
Box 1 Folder 4
B
1921-1957
Box 1 Folder 5
Balabanoff, Angelica
1938-1943
Box 1 Folder 6
Barnum, Gertz
1913-1945
Box 1 Folder 7
Beard, Charles A.
1920-1948
Box 1 Folder 8
Beard, Mary
1924-1928
Box 1 Folder 9
Brameld, Theodore
1940-1941
Box 1 Folder 10
Brookwood Labor Colleges
1921-1935
Box 1 Folder 11
C
1921-1960
Box 1 Folder 12
Chicago Joint
1923-1947
Box 1 Folder 13
Education Committee, ILGWU
1954
Scope and Contents
Fannia Cohn to Julius Hochman (chairman) outlining educational activities of Union.
Box 1 Folder 13
Columbia University
1926-1959
Scope and Contents
I. c. w. Harry J. Carman (dean) & William F. Russell.
Box 1 Folder 14
D
1936-1958
Box 1 Folder 14
Panel Discussions
1953-1955
Box 1 Folder 15
Dubinsky, David
1926-1950
Box 1 Folder 16
E
1922-1953
Box 1 Folder 17
Education
1934-1945
Scope and Contents
Incl. Liaison for International Education and Conference on the Educational and Cultural Organization of the United Nations.
Box 1 Folder 19
England
1924-1954
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. The Labour Party, Ellen Wilkinson, Ernest Bevin and Morgan Phillips & ltr. from H.G. Wells.
Box 2 Folder 1
F
1921-1957
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Mollie Friedman.
Box 2 Folder 2
Form Letters
1935-1951
Box 2 Folder 3
Forsberg, Allen B.
1922
Box 2 Folder 4
Frey, John P.
1922-1942
Box 2 Folder 5
Frish, Evelyn
1930-1931
Box 2 Folder 6
G
1922-1956
Box 2 Folder 7
Greetings
Box 2 Folder 8
H
1921-1959
Box 2 Folder 8
History of the ILGWU, partial manuscript, no author, no date.
Box 2 Folder 9
I
1939-1952
Scope and Contents
Incl. Isaacs, Stanley M., 1939, 1943.
Box 2 Folder 10
J
1921-1960
Box 2 Folder 11
Justice
1937-1959
Scope and Contents
Announcements of programs and related articles.
Box 2 Folder 12
K
1926-1957
Box 2 Folder 13
L
1921-1957
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Lewis Lorwin (Louis Levine).
Box 2 Folder 14
Labor Department, U.S.
1921-1953
Box 2 Folder 15
Life and Labor
1921
Scope and Contents
(Publ. by Women's Trade Union League) Corres.
Box 2 Folder 16
Locals and Union Affiliates
1922-1959
Box 2 Folder 17
Local 25
1919-1925
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Elsie Gluck (education dir.).
Box 2 Folder 18
Local 38, N.Y.C.
1930-1931
Scope and Contents
Strike. Incl. corres. of the Citizens' Emergency Committee is behalf of the striking ladies' Tailors and custom dressmakers of the Fifth Avenue Shops.
Box 2 Folder 19
Local 91, N.Y.C.
Box 2 Folder 20
Local 178
1937
Scope and Contents
May-June 1937, Education Dept. program.
Box 3 Folder 1
M
1933-1960
Box 3 Folder 2
Miller (jr.), Spencer
1926-1955
Box 3 Folder 3
Miscellaneous Correspondence
Box 3 Folder 4
Miscellaneous Items. (Union and non-Union)
Box 3 Folder 5
N
1922-1958
Box 3 Folder 6
O
1946-1960
Box 3 Folder 7
Organization of American States. Pan American Union
1949-1950
Box 3 Folder 8
P
1922-1947
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. Rose Pesotta.
Box 3 Folder 9
Panel Discussions, General Matters
Box 3 Folder 10
Panel Discussions
1942-1946
Box 3 Folder 11
Panel Discussions
1947-1948
Box 3 Folder 12
Panel Discussions
1949-1952
Box 3 Folder 13
Panel Discussions
1953
Box 3 Folder 15
Perlman, Selig
1929-1959
Box 3 Folder 16
Pioneer Youth of America
1926-1933
Box 4 Folder 1
Pioneer Youth of America
1934-1938
Box 4 Folder 2
Pioneer Youth of America
1939-1960
Box 4 Folder 3
Programs. Education programs from various locals.
Box 4 Folder 4
Programs
Scope and Contents
Education Department announcement of coming events and programs.
Box 4 Folder 5
Programs
1940-1942
Box 4 Folder 6
Programs
1943-1946
Box 4 Folder 7
Programs
1948
Box 4 Folder 8
Programs
1949
Box 4 Folder 9
Programs
1950-1951
Box 4 Folder 10
Programs
1953-1961
Box 4 Folder 11
R
1921-1959
Box 4 Folder 12
Rand School of Social Science
1930-1953
Box 5 Folder 1
Reports and articles on Education
Box 5 Folder 2
Rutgers University
1941-1950
Box 5 Folder 3
S
1924-1959
Box 5 Folder 4
Sigman, Morris
1924
Box 5 Folder 5
Strikes
1924-1932
Box 5 Folder 6
T
1921-1959
Box 5 Folder 7
Training Institute
1958
Box 5 Folder 8
U
1939-1954
Box 5 Folder 9
Unemployment Insurance
1932
Box 5 Folder 10
United Nations
1949-1962
Scope and Contents
Visits of Union members to UN.
Box 5 Folder 11
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO)
1945-1952
Box 5 Folder 12
Unity Centers
1920-1922
Box 5 Folder 13
Unity House
1921-1933
Scope and Contents
Incl. corres. re lectures held at Unity House.
Box 5 Folder 14
Unity House
1937-1938
Box 5 Folder 15
V
1918-1953
Box 5 Folder 17
Wisconsin University at Madison, School for Workers
1938-1959
Box 5 Folder 18
Wolfson, Theresa
1922-1931
Box 5 Folder 19
Women's Trade Union League
1921-1949
Scope and Contents
Workers' Defense League, 1921
Box 5 Folder 20
Workers Education Bureau of America
1921-1943
Scope and Contents
Incl. corres., minutes and reports.
Box 6 Folder 1
Workers Education Bureau of America
1943-1958
Box 6 Folder 2
Works Progress Administration. Federal Theatre Projects.
1936-1939
Box 6 Folder 3
Y-Z
1943-1953
Box 6 Folder 4
At Your Service
1946-1949
Scope and Contents
Bulletin.
Box 6 Folder 5
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 1 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 6
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 2 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 7
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 3 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 8
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 4 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 9
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 5 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 10
Cohn, Fannia M. Notes for speeches, statements, articles and ltrs. [folder 6 of 6]
Box 6 Folder 1
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, A-C.
Box 6 Folder 2
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, D-I.
Box 6 Folder 3
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, L.
Box 6 Folder 4
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, M-N.
Box 6 Folder 5
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, 0.
Box 6 Folder 6
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, P.
Box 6 Folder 7
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, R-S.
Box 6 Folder 8
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, T-U.
Box 6 Folder 9
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, W-WI.
Box 6 Folder 10
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, WO-Z. [folder 1 of 2]
Box 6 Folder 11
Cohn, Fannia M. Articles, WO-Z. [folder 2 of 2]
Box 6 Folder 12
Cohn, Fannia M. Convention speeches,
1937-1959
Box 7 Folder 1
In Union There Is Strength (a play)
1937
Scope and Contents
One-act play by Fannia M. Cohn & Irwin Swerdlow, 3rd ed.
Box 7 Folder 2
Lecture Series
1921-1925
Scope and Contents
Announcement of Courses given at Workers University.
Box 7 Folder 3
Lecture Series
1921-1922
Scope and Contents
Attendance records.
Box 7 Folder 4
Lecture Series
1921-1926
Box 7 Folder 5
Lecture Series. Ardzrooni, Leon and (Albrecht, Arthur E.).
Box 7 Folder 6
Lecture Series. Ayres, C.E.
Box 7 Folder 7
Lecture Series. Bauer, Marian.
Box 7 Folder 8
Lecture Series. Beard, Charles A.
Box 7 Folder 9
Lecture Series. Boone, Gladys.
Box 7 Folder 10
Lecture Series. Branham, Lucy.
Box 7 Folder 11
Lecture Series. Brissenden, Paul F.
Box 7 Folder 12
Lecture Series. Bruere, Robert.
Box 7 Folder 13
Lecture Series. Calhoun, A. W.
Box 7 Folder 14
Lecture Series. Carman, Harry J. [folder 1 of 2]
Box 7 Folder 15
Lecture Series. Carman, Harry J. [folder 2 of 2]
Box 7 Folder 16
Lecture Series. Carr, Michael.
Box 7 Folder 17
Lecture Series. Daniels, Margaret.
Box 7 Folder 18
Lecture Series. Deutsch, Babette.
Box 7 Folder 19
Lecture Series. Douglas, Paul H.
Box 7 Folder 20
Lecture Series. Fichandler, Alexander.
Box 7 Folder 21
Lecture Series. Gadsby, Margaret; Glassberg, Benjamin; Goodrich, Carter L.
Box 7 Folder 22
Lecture Series. Holloway, Emory.
Box 7 Folder 23
Lecture Series. Kennan, Ellen A.
Box 8 Folder 1
Lecture Series. Kopland, Sylvia.
Box 8 Folder 2
Lecture Series. Kornhauser, Arthur W.
Box 8 Folder 3
Lecture Series. Laidler, Harry W.
Box 8 Folder 4
Lecture Series. Lehrer, Leib.
Box 8 Folder 5
Lecture Series. Levin, Max.
Box 8 Folder 6
Lecture Series. Lieberman, Elias.
Box 8 Folder 7
Lecture Series. Lyon, John H.
Box 8 Folder 8
Lecture Series. Marx, Olga.
Box 8 Folder 9
Lecture Series. Mautner, B.H.
Box 8 Folder 10
Lecture Series. Melvin, F.J.
Box 8 Folder 11
Lecture Series. Meyers, J.
Box 8 Folder 12
Lecture Series. Miller (jr.), Spencer.
Box 8 Folder 13
Lecture Series. Muste, A.J.
Box 8 Folder 14
Lecture Series. Overstreet, Harry.
Box 8 Folder 15
Lecture Series. Saposs, David J.
Box 8 Folder 16
Lecture Series. Scribner, Grace.
Box 8 Folder 17
Lecture Series. Selikman, Benjamin; Soule, George.
Box 8 Folder 18
Lecture Series. Sherry, Harry.
Box 8 Folder 19
Lecture Series. Stair, Bird.
Box 8 Folder 20
Lecture Series. Stolberg, Benjamin.
Box 8 Folder 21
Lecture Series. Stopler, B.J.R.
Box 8 Folder 22
Lecture Series. Trachtenberg, Alexander.
Box 8 Folder 23
Lecture Series. Van Doren, Carl.
Box 8 Folder 24
Lecture Series. Weinzweig, Max.
Box 8 Folder 25
Lecture Series. Wilbert, A.L.
Box 9 Folder 1
Lecture Series. Wolfson, Theresa.
Box 9 Folder 2
Lecture Series. Wolman, Leo.
Box 9 Folder 3
Lecture Series. Zimand Savel.
Box 9 Folder 4
Lecture Series. Misc. course outlines.
Box 9 Folder 5
Lecture Series. Misc. course outlines.
Box 9 Folder 6
Lecture Series. Programs
1920-1926
Box 9 Folder 7
New Members' Classes. Lessons II and III.
Box 9 Folder 8
Officers Qualification Course
1952
Scope and Contents
Syllabus for the six lessons.
Box 9 Folder 9
Plays, Union.
Box 9 Folder 10
Plays, Union.
Box 9 Folder 11
Printed Material from Education Dept. Misc.
Box 9 Folder 12
Printed Material from Education Dept. Misc.
Box 10 Folder 1
Reports of Education Department
1922-1940
Box 10 Folder 2
Reports of Education Department
1941-1956
Box 10 Folder 3
Songs. Union and local affiliates.
Box 10 Folder 4
Songs. Union and local affiliates.
Box 10 Folder 5
Songs. Union and local affiliates.
Box 10 Folder 6
Songs. Union and local affiliates.
Box 10 Folder 7
Starr, Mark
1942-1943
Scope and Contents
Corres.
Box 10 Folder 8
Starr, Mark. Articles, arranged alphabetically by title, A-0.
Box 10 Folder 9
Starr, Mark. Articles, P-Z.
Box 10 Folder 10
Structure and government of the ILGWU
1934
Scope and Contents
Article
Box 11 Folder 1
Studies. Union and Government Efforts to Regulate Wages and Hours in the Illinois Women's Cotton Garment Industry
1939-1941
Scope and Contents
Garment Workers of Other Lands by Abe S. Weiss, 1941.
Box 11 Folder 2
Training-for-Trade-Union-Service
1935-1941
Box 11 Folder 3
Training-For-Trade-Union-Service
1946-1947
Box 11 Folder 4
Training-For-Trade-Union-Service
1946-1947
Box 11 Folder 5
Trends and Prospects in the Women's Garment Industry
1940-1956
Scope and Contents
GEB Reports to Convention.
Box 11 Folder 6
Workers' Education
1926-1941
Scope and Contents
A quarterly journal of American Workers' Education.
Box 11 Folder 7
Workers Education Bureau of America
1940-1953
Scope and Contents
Incl. newsletters.