ILGWU. Local 105 Audio Recordings,1957-1963.
Collection Number: 5780/053 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives
Cornell
University Library
Title:
ILGWU. Local 105 audio recordings,
1957-1963.
Collection Number:
5780/053 AV
Creator:
International Ladies'
Garment Workers' Union. Local 105 (New York, N.Y.).
Quantity:
.5 linear feet
Forms of Material:
Audio recordings
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
This collection contains audio recordings of ILGWU staff and
regional conferences, as well as the filmstrip “Meet Your Union.”
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.
This collection contains audio recordings of ILGWU staff and regional conferences, as
well as the filmstrip “Meet Your Union.”
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Local 105 (New York, N.Y.)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
New York Cloak Joint Board.
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York
(State)--New York.
Collective bargaining--Clothing industry--New
York (State)--New York.
Hispanic Americans--Employment--New York
(State)--New York.
Women's clothing industry--New York (State)--New
York.
Form and Genre Terms:
Audiovisual materials
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. Local 105 audio recordings. 5780/053 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell
University.
5780. ILGWU records
5780/053. ILGWU. Local 105 records.
5780/053 P. ILGWU. Local 105 photographs
"Permanent Deposit"
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
ILG Staff Conference. Tape 1 of 5.
|
1957 |
|
24 August, 1957. 1/4" x 5" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
ILG Staff Conference. Tape 2 of 5.
|
1957 |
|
24 August. 1/4" x 5" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
ILG Staff Conference. Tape 3 of 5.
|
1957 |
|
24 August. 1/4" x 5" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
ILG Staff Conference. Tape 4 of 5.
|
1957 |
|
24 August. 1/4" x 5" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
ILG Staff Conference. Tape 5 of 5.
|
1957 |
|
25 August. 1/4" x 7" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Regional Conference. Tape 1 of 5.
|
1958 |
|
Unlabeled tape, probably reel 1 of 5 for the 1958 Regional Conference. 1/4" x
7" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Regional Conference. Tape 2 of 5.
|
1958 |
|
Unlabeled tape, probably reel 2 of 5 for the 1958 Regional Conference. 1/4" x
7" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Regional Conference. Tape 3 of 5.
|
1958 |
|
14 June. Cut 1: Reports. Cut 2: Evelyn Dubrow. 1/4" x 7" open reel
tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Regional Conference. Tape 4 of 5.
|
1958 |
|
Unlabeled tape, probably reel 4 of 5 for the 1958 Regional Conference. 1/4" x
7" open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Regional Conference. Tape 5 of 5.
|
1958 |
|
15 June. Cut 1: Kirtzman (opening) Reports. Cut 2: Reports. 1/4" x 7"
open reel tape.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Meet Your Union.
|
1959 |
|
Film strip. 74 frames.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 12 |
Meet Your Union.
|
1961 |
|
Film strip. 66 frames.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Meet Your Union.
|
1963 |
|
Film strip. 73 frames.
|
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