ILGWU Sol Chaikin Photographs, 1940-1989
Collection Number: 5780/083 P

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Sol Chaikin Photographs, 1940-1989
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/083 P
Abstract:
This collection contains photographs of Sol Chaikin at a variety of events, including conventions, meetings, and rallies. Also included are photographs of ILGWU groups and institutions, political figures, and other events.
Creator:
Chaikin, Sol C.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1.61 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

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.

Biographical / Historical

Sol Chaikin was born in New York City January 9th, 1918. He graduated from Townsend Harris Hall High School in 1934. In 1940 he married Rosalind Bryon. Chaikin received a LL.B Degree from Brooklyn Law School. He then became an Organizer for the ILGWU, Local 178 in Fall River Massachusetts.
Chaikin held many union jobs through his lifetime.
1942-Business Agent, Local 281, Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts; 1943-U.S. Air Force; 1946-Manager, Local 22, ILGWU, Springfield, Massachusetts and Manager, Western Mass. District, Northeast Dept., ILGWU; 1955-Director, Lower Southwest Region, ILGWU; 1959-Assistant Director, Northeast Dept., ILGWU; 1965-Vice President, ILGWU; 1968-Chairman, American Trade Union Council for Histadrut; 1969-Associate Trustee, Long Island Jewish Hillside Medical Center; 1973-General Secretary-Treasurer, ILGWU; Vice-President, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Dept. Member, Board of Directors, New York Urban Coalition; 1975-President, ILGWU; Vice-President, AFL-CIO and Member, Executive Council Member, Governor's Task Force on Housing; 1976-Delegate to Democratic National Convention; Trade Union Council for Histadrut; 1977-Labor Representative, Belgrade Conference to Review Helsinki Accord on Human Rights; Head of AFL-CIO Delegation to International Labor Summit, London; Received Labor Human Rights Award, Jewish Labor Committee; 1978-Received Townsend Harris Award; Member, U.S. Delegation to Attend Funeral of Prime Minister Golda Meir; 1979-Present At Signing of Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty at the White House; 1980-Member, U.S. Delegation to ILO Session in Geneva; Vice-Chair, N.Y. Convention Center Operating Corp.; Member, Board of Trustees, Brandeis University; Honorary Degrees from Rutgers University and City University of New York; Seconded the Nomination of President Carter, Democratic National Convention; Published, A Labor Viewpoint: Another Opinion; 1982-Head, AFL-CIO Fact- Finding Mission to South Africa; Member, N.Y.S. Governor's Special Transit Advisory Panel; 1983-Hosted ZENSEN Delegation from Japan for Discussions of Apparel and Textile Industries; 1986-Retired as President of the ILGWU.
Sol Chaikin died April 1, 1991 at the age of 73.
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 Sol Chaikin Photographs #5780/083 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/083: ILGWU Sol Chaikin Papers 5780/083 AV: ILGWU Sol Chaikin Audio-Visual Materials 5780/135: ILGWU Sol C. Chaikin "The First Year, 1975-1976" Presentation Volume

SUBJECTS

Names:
Chaikin, Sol C.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Southeast Region
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United States
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Clothing trade--United States.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1
AFL-CIO
Box 1
Abel, I.W.
Box 1
Argentina (Human Rights)
Box 1
Awards/Honors
Box 1
Beame, Abe
Box 1
Brown, Jerry
Box 1
Bush, George
Box 1
Cambria County
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy--Inauguration
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy--nomination by Chaikin
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy--meetings
1977
Box 1
Carter, Jimmy--meetings
1977
Box 1
Chaikin and family--early years
Box 1
Chaikin and family--early years
Box 1
Chaikin and family--early years
Box 1
Chaikin and family--early years
Box 1
Chaikin
1940-1949
Box 1
Chaikin
1950-1959
Box 1
Chaikin
1960-1969
Box 1
Chaikin
1970-1979
Box 1
Chaikin
1970-1979
Box 2
Chaikin
1980-1989
Box 2
Chaikin
Box 2
Chaikin--retirement
1986
Box 2
Chile
1978
Box 2
Civil Rights
Box 2
Conventions
1968-1986
Box 2
Conventions
1968-1986
Box 2
Conventions
1968-1986
Box 2
Conventions
1968-1986
Box 2
Cuomo, Mario
Box 2
Deborah Dinner
Box 2
Democratic Convention
1976
Box 2
Dubinsky, David
Box 2
Dukakis, Michael
Box 2
Fall River, Massachusetts
1975
Box 2
Finley, Murray
Box 2
Foreign Heads of State
Box 2
General Secretary-Treasurer
Box 2
Hall, Paul
Box 2
Histadrut
Box 2
Humphrey, Hubert
Box 2
International Labour Organization
1976
Box 2
Imports Legislation--Testimony
Box 2
Interviews
Box 2
Japan Summit
1979
Box 2
Kennedy, John F.
Box 2
Kenned, Ted
Box 2
King, Coretta S.
Box 2
Koch, Ed
Box 2
Labor Mass
Box 2
Labor Summit
1977
Box 2
Lincoln Center
Box 2
Locals
Box 2
Locals
Box 3
Locals
Box 3
London
Box 3
Meany, George
Box 3
Milano, Ed
Box 3
Mondale, Walter
Box 3
Moynihan, Daniel
Box 3
New York State AFL-CIO
Box 3
Northeast (Lower Southwest)
1956-1973
Box 3
O'Neill, Tip
Box 3
Peru
Box 3
Political Rallies
Box 3
President, Swearing in of
1975
Box 3
President--Portraits
Box 3
Rabin (Ambassador of Israel)
Box 3
Randolph, A. Philip
Box 3
Rizzo, Frank
Box 3
Rockefeller Center--Fashion Show
Box 3
Rome
1978
Box 3
Schmidt, Helmut--Dinner
Box 3
Shapp, Milton
Box 3
Social Democrats
Box 3
Stolberg Hospital Ceremony
Box 3
Street Fair, New York City
Box 3
Tennessee
Box 3
Truman, Harry S.
Box 3
Union Label
Box 3
Unity House
Box 3
White House
1970-1979
Box 3
White House
1970-1979
Box 3
White House
1970-1979
Box 3
Miscellaneous
Box 55
12 oversize photos sorted out of the 'misc. photos' box stored over the mapcase