ILGWU. Central Pennsylvania District records
Collection Number: 5780/090
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU. Central Pennsylvania District
records, 1956-1985
Collection Number:
5780/090
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union
Quantity:
2 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Articles, reprints, pamphlets, correspondence, newsletters.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives,
Cornell University Library
Abstract:
This collection is almost entirely comprised of publications either
published or collected by the Central Pennsylvania District. This includes a substantial run of
the district's periodical, The Garment Worker (1956-1975), as well as a variety of publications
from labor organizations in Pennsylvania and throughout the northeastern United
States.
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).
Beginning in 1957 as the Central and Western Pennsylvania District, the Central Pennsylvania
District was an affiliate within the ILGWU's Northeast Region. With the affiliate into two and
renamed the Central Pennsylvania District and the Western Pennsylvania District by 1962, Central
Pennsylvania District Council included four local unions (108, 170, 196, and 197) until 1987.
From 1988 until the ILGWU's merger with ACTWU in 1995, the affiliate was reorganized as the
Central and Western Pennsylvania and Reading District Council. During this period, the council
included as many as eight local unions (98, 108, 170, 196, 197, 217, 424, and 445).
Martin Morand served as the district manager from 1957 to 1964. Edward Milano succeeded
Morand, serving as Central Pennsylvania District manager until 1967. From 1967 to 1971, Sol
Hofmann was manager. Ronald Aldman was the district's next manager, from 1971 to 1980. Jane
Paluscio worked as manager from 1980 to 1985, followed by Ada Jakubic. When Jakubic passed away
in 1993, Jay Levine assumed the position of manager of the Central and Western Pennsylvania and
Reading District Council. Levine was manager of the affiliate at the time of the ILGWU's merger
with ACTWU in 1995.
Throughout its existence, the Central Pennsylvania District Council worked closely with other
affiliates in the Northeast Department, including local unions in Easton, Hazleton, Reading,
Scranton, Shamokin, Sunbury, Pottstown, and Pottsville. By the 1960s, the ILGWU had established
district councils in Scranton and Easton. In the 1970s, additional local unions were organized
into the Shamokin-Sunbury District Council (185, 306), Hazleton District Council (225, 575), and
the Wyoming Valley District Council (249, 327).
With the decline of manufacturing in the region in the 1980s and 1990s, these affiliates began
to merge. The year 1986 saw the creation of the Shamokin-Sunbury-Pottsville District Council,
and in 1990, the Scranton District Council was included in this affiliate. After 1988, the
Hazleton and Wyoming Valley District merged.
The collection contains correspondence and clippings that are from or about the garment
industry and union locals within the Central Pennsylvania District. On February 20, 1960, the
District presented and produced a special television program and the garment industry and the
activities of the union, and included in the records are scripts and press on the program. Also
available are collected pamphlets and brochures on various topics and assembled clipping files
on subjects such as John Kennedy, the garment industry, mentions of the ILGWU and locals in the
press, anniversaries and elections.
The bulk of the collection is composed of union and labor publications. There are publications
from the AFL and other labor unions including "Labor Herald" (Lehigh Valley and Vicinity) and
the UAW ("Solidarity") as well as general labor newspapers for Pennsylvania. There are also
newsletters from other regions and locals of the ILGWU, many of which are from New England and
Massachusetts as well as the Southeast Region ("Southern Garment Worker"). Of particular
importance and interest are the assembled publications of local (Central Pennsylvania) labor,
union, and industry newsletters from the region including the "Garment Worker," which was the
monthly publication for the Central Pennsylvania District of the ILGWU, "The Needlepoint"
(Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and Nanticoke District Council), "Needle News" (Allentown-Reading
District), "The Needle's Eye" (Easton, PA), and the "Scranton District Bulletin."
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. -- Central
Pennsylvania District.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States.
Women's clothing industry -- Pennsylvania.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- United States.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- Pennsylvania.
Clothing workers -- United States.
Clothing workers -- Pennsylvania.
Industrial relations -- United States.
Industrial relations -- Pennsylvania.
Form and Genre Terms:
Correspondence
Newspapers
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. Central Pennsylvania District records #5780/090. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
5780: ILGWU records
5780/090 P: ILGWU. Central Pennsylvania District photographs
5780: ILGWU records
5780/090 P: ILGWU. Central Pennsylvania District photographs
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1962 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1960 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1961-1965 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1969-1971 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1956-1961 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | 1962-1965 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | 1966-1967 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | 1968 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | 0 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 | 1972-1973 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 | 1973 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 12 | 1974-1975 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 13 | 1959 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 14 | 1971 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 15 | 1961 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 16 | 1985-1960 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 17 | 1958-1961 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 18 | 1957-1965 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 19 | 1957-1959 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 20 | 1964-1968 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 21 | 1958-1962 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 22 | 0 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 23 | 1965 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 24 | 1959-1972 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 25 | 1957-1972 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 26 | 1957-1959 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 27 | 1959-1960 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 28 | 1963-1964 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 29 | 1964-1968 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 30 | 1967-1968 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1962 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1962 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 3 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1958 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1971 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1971 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1962 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1961-1964 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 9 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 10 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 11 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 12 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 13 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 14 | ||
|
no date
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 15 | 1959-1960 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 16 | 1962-1970 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 17 | 1962-1966 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 18 | 1967-1971 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 19 | 1959-1964 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 20 | 1965-1974 | |