ILGWU Education Department, Fannia Cohn Papers on Microfilm
Collection Number: 5780/049 mf
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Education Department, Fannia Cohn Papers on Microfilm, 1918-1962
Collection Number:
5780/049 mf
Creator:
Cohn, Fannia M. (Fannia Mary)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
9 microfilm reels
Forms of Material:
Articles, reprints, pamphlets, correspondence, photographs, microfilm.
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 on microfilm.
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 was born in Minsk in the late 1880s (there is disagreement as to the exact year). She 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. She 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:
Papers
Microfilm
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 on Microfilm, #5780/049 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
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: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers
5780/049 P: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn photographs
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: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn papers
5780/049 P: ILGWU. Education Department. Fannia Cohn photographs
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Reel 2 | item 1 | 1921-1959 | |
| Reel 2 | item 2 | 1938 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Resettlement and Farm Security Administrations with Arch A. Mercey.
|
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| Reel 2 | item 3 | 1918-1954 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Samuel Gompers & C. Thorne.
|
|||
| Reel 2 | item 4 | 1936-1941 | |
| Reel 2 | item 5 | 1921-1957 | |
| Reel 2 | item 6 | 1938-1943 | |
|
1938, 1943
|
|||
| Reel 2 | item 7 | 1913-1945 | |
|
1913, 1945
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|||
| Reel 2 | item 8 | 1920-1948 | |
| Reel 2 | item 9 | 1924-1928 | |
| Reel 2 | item 10 | 1940-1941 | |
| Reel 2 | item 11 | 1921-1935 | |
| Reel 2 | item 12 | 1921-1960 | |
| Reel 2 | item 13 | 1923-1947 | |
|
1923, 1947
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|||
| Reel 2 | item 14 | 1926-1959 | |
|
1926, 1942-1959. Includes correspondence with Harry J. Carman (dean) & William F. Russell.
|
|||
| Reel 2 | item 15 | 1936-1958 | |
| Reel 2 | item 16 | 1926-1950 | |
| Reel 2 | item 17 | 1922-1953 | |
|
1922, 1939-1953
|
|||
| Reel 2 | item 18 | 1934-1945 | |
|
Includes Liaison for International Education and Conference on the Educational and Cultural Organization of the United Nations.
|
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| Reel 2 | item 19 | 1954 | |
|
Fannia Cohn to Julius Hochman (chairman) outlining educational activities of Union.
|
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| Reel 2 | item 20 | 1924-1954 | |
|
Includes correspondence with The Labor Party, Ellen Wilkinson, Ernest Bevin and Morgan Phillips & ltr. from H.G. Wells.
|
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| Reel 2 | item 21 | 1921-1957 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Mollie Friedman.
|
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| Reel 3 | item 1 | 1935-1951 | |
|
1935-1936, 1941-1951
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| Reel 3 | item 2 | 1922 | |
| Reel 3 | item 3 | 1922-1942 | |
|
1922-1928, 1942
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| Reel 3 | item 4 | 1930-1931 | |
| Reel 3 | item 5 | 1922-1956 | |
| Reel 3 | item 6 | 1950-1959 | |
|
1950s
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| Reel 3 | item 7 | 1921-1959 | |
| Reel 3 | item 8 | ||
| Reel 3 | item 9 | 1939-1952 | |
|
Includes Isaacs, Stanley M., 1939, 1943.
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| Reel 3 | item 10 | 1921-1960 | |
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1921, 1940-1960
|
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| Reel 3 | item 11 | 1937-1959 | |
|
Announcements of programs and related articles.
|
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| Reel 3 | item 12 | 1926-1957 | |
|
1926, 1940-1957
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| Reel 3 | item 13 | 1921-1957 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Lewis Lorwin (Louis Levine).
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| Reel 3 | item 14 | 1921-1953 | |
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1921, 1933-1953
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| Reel 3 | item 15 | 1921 | |
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(Publ. by Women's Trade Union League) Corres.
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| Reel 3 | item 16 | 1922-1959 | |
| Reel 3 | item 17 | 1919-1925 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Elsie Gluck (education dir.).
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| Reel 3 | item 18 | 1930-1931 | |
|
Strike. Includes 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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| Reel 3 | item 19 | 1924-1939 | |
|
1924-1930s
|
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| Reel 3 | item 20 | 1937 | |
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May-June 1937, Education Dept. program.
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| Reel 3 | item 21 | 1933-1960 | |
| Reel 3 | item 22 | 1926-1955 | |
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1926-1927, 1941-1955
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| Reel 5 | item 1 | 1920-1959 | |
|
1920s-1950s
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| Reel 5 | item 2 | ||
| Reel 5 | item 3 | 1922-1958 | |
| Reel 5 | item 4 | 1946-1960 | |
| Reel 5 | item 5 | 1949-1950 | |
| Reel 5 | item 6 | 1922-1947 | |
|
Includes correspondence with Rose Pesotta.
|
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| Reel 5 | item 7 | 1940-1959 | |
|
1940s-1950s
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| Reel 5 | item 8 | 1942-1946 | |
| Reel 5 | item 9 | 1947-1948 | |
| Reel 5 | item 10 | 1949-1952 | |
| Reel 5 | item 11 | 1953 | |
| Reel 5 | item 12 | 1953-1955 | |
| Reel 5 | item 13 | 1929-1959 | |
| Reel 5 | item 14 | 1926-1933 | |
| Reel 5 | item 15 | 1934-1938 | |
| Reel 5 | item 16 | 1939-1960 | |
| Reel 8 | item 1 | ||
| Reel 8 | item 2 | 1930-1939 | |
|
1930s Education Department announcement of coming events and programs.
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| Reel 8 | item 3 | 1940-1942 | |
| Reel 8 | item 4 | 1943-1946 | |
| Reel 8 | item 5 | 1948 | |
| Reel 8 | item 6 | 1949 | |
| Reel 8 | item 7 | 1950-1951 | |
| Reel 8 | item 8 | 1953-1961 | |
| Reel 8 | item 9 | 1921-1959 | |
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1921, 1937-1959
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| Reel 8 | item 10 | 1930-1953 | |
|
1930, 1953
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| Reel 8 | item 11 | 1940-1959 | |
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1940s-1950s
|
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| Reel 8 | item 12 | 1941-1950 | |
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1941, 1947-1950
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| Reel 8 | item 13 | 1924-1959 | |
| Reel 8 | item 14 | 1924 | |
| Reel 8 | item 15 | 1924-1932 | |
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1924, 1930, 1932
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| Reel 8 | item 16 | 1921-1959 | |
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1921, 1935-1959
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| Reel 8 | item 17 | 1958 | |
| Reel 8 | item 18 | 1939-1954 | |
| Reel 8 | item 19 | 1932 | |
| Reel 8 | item 20 | 1949-1962 | |
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Visits of Union members to UN.
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| Reel 8 | item 21 | 1945-1952 | |
| Reel 8 | item 22 | 1920-1922 | |
| Reel 10 | item 1 | 1921-1933 | |
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Includes correspondence re lectures held at Unity House.
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| Reel 10 | item 2 | 1937-1938 | |
| Reel 10 | item 3 | 1918-1953 | |
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1918, 1934-1953
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| Reel 10 | item 4 | 1938-1959 | |
| Reel 10 | item 5 | 1922-1931 | |
| Reel 10 | item 6 | 1921-1949 | |
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Workers' Defense League, 1921
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| Reel 10 | item 7 | 1921-1943 | |
|
1921, 1923, 1925, 1929, 1938-1943. Includes correspondence, minutes and reports.
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| Reel 10 | item 8 | 1943-1958 | |
| Reel 10 | item 9 | 1936-1939 | |
| Reel 10 | item 10 | 1943-1953 | |
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1943, 1947, 1953
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| Reel 10 | item 11 | 1946-1949 | |
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Bulletin.
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| Reel 10 | item 12 | ||
| Reel 10 | item 13 | ||
| Reel 10 | item 14 | ||
| Reel 10 | item 15 | ||
| Reel 10 | item 16 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 1 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 2 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 3 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 4 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 5 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 6 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 7 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 8 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 9 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 10 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 11 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 12 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 13 | 1937-1959 | |
| Reel 11 | item 14 | 1937 | |
|
One-act play by Fannia M. Cohn & Irwin Swerdlow, 3rd ed.
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| Reel 11 | item 15 | 1921-1925 | |
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Announcement of Courses given at Workers University.
|
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| Reel 11 | item 16 | 1921-1922 | |
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Attendance records.
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| Reel 11 | item 17 | 1921-1926 | |
| Reel 11 | item 18 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 19 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 20 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 21 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 22 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 23 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 24 | ||
| Reel 11 | item 25 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 1 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 2 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 3 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 4 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 5 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 6 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 7 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 8 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 9 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 10 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 11 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 12 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 13 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 14 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 15 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 16 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 17 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 18 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 19 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 20 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 21 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 22 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 23 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 24 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 25 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 26 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 27 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 28 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 29 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 30 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 31 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 32 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 33 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 34 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 35 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 36 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 37 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 38 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 39 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 40 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 41 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 42 | 1920-1926 | |
| Reel 13 | item 43 | ||
| Reel 13 | item 44 | 1952 | |
|
Syllabus for the six lessons.
|
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| Reel 13 | item 45 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 1 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 2 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 3 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 4 | 1922-1940 | |
| Reel 15 | item 5 | 1941-1956 | |
| Reel 15 | item 6 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 7 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 8 | ||
| Reel 15 | item 9 | ||
|
Corres.
|
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| Reel 18 | item 1 | 1942-1943 | |
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Corres.
|
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| Reel 18 | item 2 | ||
| Reel 18 | item 3 | ||
| Reel 18 | item 4 | 1934 | |
|
Article
|
|||
| Reel 18 | item 5 | 1939-1941 | |
|
1939, 1941. Garment Workers of Other Lands by Abe S. Weiss, 1941.
|
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| Reel 18 | item 6 | 1935-1941 | |
| Reel 18 | item 7 | 1946-1947 | |
| Reel 18 | item 8 | 1946-1947 | |
| Reel 18 | item 9 | 1940-1956 | |
|
GEB Reports to Convention.
|
|||
| Reel 18 | item 10 | 1926-1941 | |
|
1926, 1929, 1935, 1941A quarterly journal of American Workers' Education.
|
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| Reel 18 | item 11 | 1940-1953 | |
|
Includes newsletters.
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