ILGWU Local 91 Records, 1934-1982
Collection Number: 5780/066
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU Local 91 Records, 1934-1982
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/066
Abstract:
The collection consists primarily of Local 91's publication, Our Aim, from 1934 to
1947. Also includes other printed material, files on union contractors, and employment
agreements.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU). Local 91
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor
unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing
about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the
first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played
a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred
to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size,
and 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. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial
and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two
unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down
from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.
Chartered in 1921, Local 91 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU),
also known as the Children's Dress, Infant's Wear, House, Dress, and Bathrobe Makers
Union, was formed with the merger of Local 41 and Local 50 and based in New York,
New York.
The collection contains speeches and papers written for the newsletter, or to give
at banquets and dinners by Belle Horensen. Horensen became the librarian for Local
91 in 1943, elected business agent in 1946, and was the manager from 1977 until her
retirement in 1982. There is also some information on contracts and prices, scripts
for membership meetings, and the 60th anniversary of Local 91 in 1973.
The collection also contains bound copies of Local 91's publication "Our Aim." Historical
information of Local 91 can be found in the anniversary pamphlets, as well as the
paper written by Morris Paladino for a Trade Union Fellowship Class at Harvard University,
which provides an in-depth study of the industry, structure, governance, and organization
of the union utilizing Local 91 as a case-study.
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 Local 91 Records #5780/066. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/153: ILGWU Local 91, David Dubinsky Presentation Volume
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 91 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- New York (State) -- New York
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- United States
Children's clothing industry--New York (State)--New York.
Children's clothing industry--United States.
Industrial relations--New York (State)--New York.
Industrial relations -- United States
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Belle Horensen
|
1962-1982 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Employment Agreements
|
1977-1979 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Our Local 66
|
1955-1960 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Our Aim
|
1934-1936 |
|
Scope and Contents
(2 copies)
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Our Aim
|
1936-1938 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Our Aim
|
1939-1940 |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Our Aim
|
1941-1942 |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Our Aim
|
1945-1947 |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Our Aim
|
1982 |
|
Scope and Contents
Mar-82
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Newsletters
|
1946-1980 |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Paladino, Morris. "Human Relations and a Trade Union: Local 91 ILGWU."
|
1943 |
| Box 1 | Folder 12 |
25th and 50th Anniversary Pamphlets.
|
|