ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers
Collection Number: 5780/049
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn
papers, 1918-1962
Collection Number:
5780/049
Creator:
Cohn, Fannia M. (Fannia Mary),
1885-
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union
Quantity:
6 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Articles, reprints, pamphlets, correspondence,
photographs.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives,
Cornell University Library
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Files (document groupings)
Correspondence.
Lectures.
Photographs.
Outlines.
Speeches.
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:
ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers #5780/049. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
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
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
Container
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Description
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Date
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Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1921-1959 | |
Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1938 | |
I.c.w. Resettlement and Farm Security Administrations with Arch A. Mercey.
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Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1918-1954 | |
I.c.w. Samuel Gompers & C. Thorne.
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Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1936-1941 | |
Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1921-1957 | |
Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1938-1943 | |
Box 1 | Folder 6 | 1913-1945 | |
Box 1 | Folder 7 | 1920-1948 | |
Box 1 | Folder 8 | 1924-1928 | |
Box 1 | Folder 9 | 1940-1941 | |
Box 1 | Folder 10 | 1921-1935 | |
Box 1 | Folder 11 | 1921-1960 | |
Box 1 | Folder 12 | 1923-1947 | |
Box 1 | Folder 13 | 1954 | |
Fannia Cohn to Julius Hochman (chairman) outlining educational activities of Union.
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Box 1 | Folder 13 | 1926-1959 | |
I. c. w. Harry J. Carman (dean) & William F. Russell.
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Box 1 | Folder 14 | 1936-1958 | |
Box 1 | Folder 14 | 1953-1955 | |
Box 1 | Folder 15 | 1926-1950 | |
Box 1 | Folder 16 | 1922-1953 | |
Box 1 | Folder 17 | 1934-1945 | |
Incl. Liaison for International Education and Conference on the Educational and Cultural
Organization of the United Nations.
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Box 1 | Folder 19 | 1924-1954 | |
I.c.w. The Labour Party, Ellen Wilkinson, Ernest Bevin and Morgan Phillips & ltr. from
H.G. Wells.
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Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1921-1957 | |
I.c.w. Mollie Friedman.
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Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1935-1951 | |
Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1922 | |
Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1922-1942 | |
Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1930-1931 | |
Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1922-1956 | |
Box 2 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1921-1959 | |
Box 2 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 2 | Folder 9 | 1939-1952 | |
Incl. Isaacs, Stanley M., 1939, 1943.
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Box 2 | Folder 10 | 1921-1960 | |
Box 2 | Folder 11 | 1937-1959 | |
Announcements of programs and related articles.
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Box 2 | Folder 12 | 1926-1957 | |
Box 2 | Folder 13 | 1921-1957 | |
I.c.w. Lewis Lorwin (Louis Levine).
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Box 2 | Folder 14 | 1921-1953 | |
Box 2 | Folder 15 | 1921 | |
(Publ. by Women's Trade Union League) Corres.
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Box 2 | Folder 16 | 1922-1959 | |
Box 2 | Folder 17 | 1919-1925 | |
I.c.w. Elsie Gluck (education dir.).
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Box 2 | Folder 18 | 1930-1931 | |
Strike. Incl. corres. of the Citizens' Emergency Committee is behalf of the striking ladies'
Tailors and custom dressmakers of the Fifth Avenue Shops.
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Box 2 | Folder 19 | ||
Box 2 | Folder 20 | 1937 | |
May-June 1937, Education Dept. program.
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Box 3 | Folder 1 | 1933-1960 | |
Box 3 | Folder 2 | 1926-1955 | |
Box 3 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 3 | Folder 4 | ||
Box 3 | Folder 5 | 1922-1958 | |
Box 3 | Folder 6 | 1946-1960 | |
Box 3 | Folder 7 | 1949-1950 | |
Box 3 | Folder 8 | 1922-1947 | |
I.c.w. Rose Pesotta.
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Box 3 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 3 | Folder 10 | 1942-1946 | |
Box 3 | Folder 11 | 1947-1948 | |
Box 3 | Folder 12 | 1949-1952 | |
Box 3 | Folder 13 | 1953 | |
Box 3 | Folder 15 | 1929-1959 | |
Box 3 | Folder 16 | 1926-1933 | |
Box 4 | Folder 1 | 1934-1938 | |
Box 4 | Folder 2 | 1939-1960 | |
Box 4 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 4 | Folder 4 | ||
Education Department announcement of coming events and programs.
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Box 4 | Folder 5 | 1940-1942 | |
Box 4 | Folder 6 | 1943-1946 | |
Box 4 | Folder 7 | 1948 | |
Box 4 | Folder 8 | 1949 | |
Box 4 | Folder 9 | 1950-1951 | |
Box 4 | Folder 10 | 1953-1961 | |
Box 4 | Folder 11 | 1921-1959 | |
Box 4 | Folder 12 | 1930-1953 | |
Box 5 | Folder 1 | ||
Box 5 | Folder 2 | 1941-1950 | |
Box 5 | Folder 3 | 1924-1959 | |
Box 5 | Folder 4 | 1924 | |
Box 5 | Folder 5 | 1924-1932 | |
Box 5 | Folder 6 | 1921-1959 | |
Box 5 | Folder 7 | 1958 | |
Box 5 | Folder 8 | 1939-1954 | |
Box 5 | Folder 9 | 1932 | |
Box 5 | Folder 10 | 1949-1962 | |
Visits of Union members to UN.
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Box 5 | Folder 11 | 1945-1952 | |
Box 5 | Folder 12 | 1920-1922 | |
Box 5 | Folder 13 | 1921-1933 | |
Incl. corres. re lectures held at Unity House.
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Box 5 | Folder 14 | 1937-1938 | |
Box 5 | Folder 15 | 1918-1953 | |
Box 5 | Folder 17 | 1938-1959 | |
Box 5 | Folder 18 | 1922-1931 | |
Box 5 | Folder 19 | 1921-1949 | |
Workers' Defense League, 1921
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Box 5 | Folder 20 | 1921-1943 | |
Incl. corres., minutes and reports.
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Box 6 | Folder 1 | 1943-1958 | |
Box 6 | Folder 2 | 1936-1939 | |
Box 6 | Folder 3 | 1943-1953 | |
Box 6 | Folder 4 | 1946-1949 | |
Bulletin.
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Box 6 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 6 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 10 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 1 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 2 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 4 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 6 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 10 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 11 | ||
Box 6 | Folder 12 | 1937-1959 | |
Box 7 | Folder 1 | 1937 | |
One-act play by Fannia M. Cohn & Irwin Swerdlow, 3rd ed.
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Box 7 | Folder 2 | 1921-1925 | |
Announcement of Courses given at Workers University.
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Box 7 | Folder 3 | 1921-1922 | |
Attendance records.
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Box 7 | Folder 4 | 1921-1926 | |
Box 7 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 6 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 10 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 11 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 12 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 13 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 14 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 15 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 16 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 17 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 18 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 19 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 20 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 21 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 22 | ||
Box 7 | Folder 23 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 1 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 2 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 4 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 6 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 10 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 11 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 12 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 13 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 14 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 15 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 16 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 17 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 18 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 19 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 20 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 21 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 22 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 23 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 24 | ||
Box 8 | Folder 25 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 1 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 2 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 4 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 6 | 1920-1926 | |
Box 9 | Folder 7 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 8 | 1952 | |
Syllabus for the six lessons.
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Box 9 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 10 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 11 | ||
Box 9 | Folder 12 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 1 | 1922-1940 | |
Box 10 | Folder 2 | 1941-1956 | |
Box 10 | Folder 3 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 4 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 5 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 6 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 7 | 1942-1943 | |
Corres.
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Box 10 | Folder 8 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 9 | ||
Box 10 | Folder 10 | 1934 | |
Article
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Box 11 | Folder 1 | 1939-1941 | |
Garment Workers of Other Lands by Abe S. Weiss, 1941.
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Box 11 | Folder 2 | 1935-1941 | |
Box 11 | Folder 3 | 1946-1947 | |
Box 11 | Folder 4 | 1946-1947 | |
Box 11 | Folder 5 | 1940-1956 | |
GEB Reports to Convention.
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Box 11 | Folder 6 | 1926-1941 | |
A quarterly journal of American Workers' Education.
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Box 11 | Folder 7 | 1940-1953 | |
Incl. newsletters.
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