ILGWU Archives Department Records, 1900-1987
Collection Number: 5780/111
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU Archives Department Records, 1900-1987
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/111
Abstract:
Contains correspondence, forms, and other files pertaining to the archives' everyday
operation, as well as photocopies of materials from the ILGWU records on a variety
of topics and local unions, and collected printed material about the ILGWU.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
4 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese
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.
The ILGWU Archives were established in New York City in 1973, under the direction
of Henoch Mendelsund. Robert Lazar served as archivist. The archives sought to collect
union correspondence, meeting minutes, collective bargaining agreements, publications,
photographs, audio recordings, film, and memorabilia. In 1987, the ILGWU Archives
were transferred to the Kheel Center.
The records of the Archives Department include administrative records files relating
to the establishment and operation of the unit, subject files containing photocopies
of archival material, archival records maintained by the department, and publications.
Administrative records document how the archive was built, operated, and used. They
include inventory and accession forms, correspondence with union officials and donors,
financial records, and guidelines for the processing and care of archival records.
These also include procedures for using the collections, guidelines for donating materials,
and signed forms by researchers who accessed the archives. Materials relating to the
archives' oral history project are also contained in these administrative files. These
oral history audio recordings and transcripts (5780 OH and 5780/110 OHT) are available
at the Kheel Center.
Subject files include prominent figures in the union, local unions, and other ILGWU
affiliates and contain photocopies of records documenting the work of these individuals
and organizations. Among the subject files and archival records are the ILGWU's founding
meeting minutes (5780/111, box 1, folder 13), as well as minutes of the ILGWU predecessor
union Sanctuary Local Assembly 3038 of the Knights of Labor.
Archival records include union correspondence, accounting ledgers, local union meeting
minutes, and other material. The accounting ledgers of the Central States region are
among the relatively few records held at the Kheel Center that document the activities
of that department. The meeting minutes of Local 89, Local 48, Local 414, and Local
2585/414 fill out gaps in other series. These records from the Archives Department
complement those in other series of the ILGWU Records
The Archives Department Publications (5780/121 PUBS) consist of printed material
collected by the unit. They include newsletters and newspapers from local unions,
collective bargaining agreements, membership censuses, financial and statistical reports,
information welfare funds, legal records, and some material related to arbitration.
Included in the papers of longtime ILGWU Archivist Robert Lazar (5780/121) is published
sheet music.
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 Archives Department Records #5780/111. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
Interrnational Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Archives Dept.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--New York (State) -- New York
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)-- New York
Clothing trade--New York (State) -- New York
Industrial relations--New York (State) -- New York
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
General Corres. B
|
1974-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Benefits- Union Insurance Plans
|
1978-1981 |
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Bialis, Morris
|
1974-1979 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
General Correspondence D
|
1974-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
General Correspondence E
|
1978 |
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
General Correspondence F
|
1974-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Finance Department
|
1980-1982 |
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Forms: Moving- Releases
|
1978-1981 |
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Forms: General
|
1977-1984 |
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Unity Broadcasting Corporation of New England
|
1977-1982 |
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Forms: Accession Sheet
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
General Correspondence G
|
1981-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
General Executive Board: Founding Minutes
|
1900-1903 |
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
General Service Administration
|
1974-1978 |
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Greene, Paula Inc.
|
1980 |
Scope and Contents
Spanish
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
General Correspondence H
|
1977-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 17 |
General Correspondence I
|
1978-1980 |
Box 1 | Folder 18 |
International Icrofilmers, Inc.
|
1974-1976 |
Box 1 | Folder 19 |
Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
|
1975-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 20 |
Justice
|
1973-1982 |
Box 1 | Folder 21 |
General Correspondence K
|
1962-1980 |
Box 1 | Folder 22 |
Oral History Association
|
1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 23 |
Oral History Projects
|
1973-1975 |
Box 1 | Folder 24 |
Forms: Access rules and regulations
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 25 |
Researchers, Names of People Who Used Archives
|
1976-1985 |
Box 1 | Folder 26 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [A]
|
1978-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 27 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [B]
|
1975-1985 |
Box 1 | Folder 28 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [C]
|
1979-1987 |
Box 1 | Folder 29 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [D]
|
1979-1983 |
Box 1 | Folder 30 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [E-F]
|
1979-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 31 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [G]
|
1979-1987 |
Box 1 | Folder 32 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [H-J]
|
1980-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 33 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [K]
|
1978-1985 |
Box 1 | Folder 34 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [L]
|
1979-1987 |
Box 1 | Folder 35 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [M-N]
|
1979-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 36 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [O-P]
|
1979-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 37 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [Q-R]
|
1979-1984 |
Box 1 | Folder 38 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [S]
|
1979-1987 |
Box 1 | Folder 39 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [T-V]
|
1980-1987 |
Box 1 | Folder 40 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [W]
|
1978-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 41 |
Researchers Signed Access Rules [X-Z]
|
1979-1982 |
Box 1 | Folder 42 |
Highsmith and Hollinger
|
1980 |
Box 1 | Folder 43 |
Cornell University
|
1978 |
Box 1 | Folder 44 |
Conservation of Archival Material [folder 1 of 2]
|
1983-1986 |
Box 1 | Folder 45 |
Conservation or Archival Material [folder 2 of 2]
|
1974-1980 |
Box 1 | Folder 46 |
Demco
|
1976-1978 |
Box 1 | Folder 47 |
Forms: Archival
|
1970-1971 |
Box 1 | Folder 48 |
Microfilming
|
1972-1974 |
Box 1 | Folder 49 |
Studies, Union and Non-Union
|
1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 50 |
Ledger
|
1981-1982 |
Scope and Contents
Oversized, on top of other folders
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
CCC
|
1980 |
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Shelf List
|
1983 |
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
The ILGWU's Archives
|
1982 |
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Lazar: Con Edison
|
1981-1982 |
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Lecture Series. Holloway, Emory
|
1979 |
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Local 60A, 62, 64, 76
|
1934-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Oral History Evaluations and Information on Magnetic Tape
|
1979 |
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Plotkin General Executive Board Minutes
|
1937-1954 |
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Chicago Convention: Minutes, Articles
|
1979 |
Box 2 | Folder 10 |
General Executive Board Minutes. Biography
|
1925-1950 |
Box 2 | Folder 11 |
Chicago and Milwaukee 1933-1934; Chicago 1935, 1936
|
1933-1936 |
Box 2 | Folder 12 |
Chicago 1937, 1938
|
1937-1946 |
Box 2 | Folder 13 |
Stulberg
|
1975 |
Box 2 | Folder 14 |
Chicago 1939, 1940
|
1937-1941 |
Box 2 | Folder 15 |
Milwaukee and Chicago
|
1934-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 16 |
Miami Joint Council
|
1954-1955 |
Box 2 | Folder 17 |
Chicago Joint Board
|
1933-1941 |
Box 2 | Folder 18 |
Kansas City
|
1933-1934 |
Box 2 | Folder 19 |
Plotkin: notes
|
1935-1947 |
Box 2 | Folder 20 |
West Coast
|
1927-1932 |
Box 2 | Folder 21 |
Dubinsky: Interview
|
1974 |
Box 2 | Folder 22 |
Interviews: Pending
|
1976-1978 |
Box 2 | Folder 23 |
Moe Diamond: Interview
|
1974 |
Box 2 | Folder 24 |
Women in the Union
|
1923-1953 |
Box 2 | Folder 25 |
Dressmaker's Union [folder 1 of 2]
|
1941-1969 |
Box 2 | Folder 26 |
Dressmaker's Union [folder 2 of 2]
|
1947-1958 |
Box 2 | Folder 27 |
Schindler North East Department
|
1936-1959 |
Box 2 | Folder 28 |
WGWU Local 62: notes
|
1935-1968 |
Box 2 | Folder 29 |
Tape Recordings
|
1977-1979 |
Box 2 | Folder 30 |
Appleton, Shelley
|
1954-1967 |
Box 2 | Folder 31 |
Joint Board List
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 32 |
Chaikin: Notes
|
1948-1979 |
Box 2 | Folder 33 |
Chaikin, Sol Chick. President ILG.
|
1940-1973 |
Box 2 | Folder 34 |
Novik: Notes
|
1930-1950 |
Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Pins and Needles
|
1977 |
Box 3 | Folder 2 |
Archives: Mail
|
1980-1984 |
Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Report to Social Security Commission of the Garment Industry
|
1947 |
Box 3 | Folder 4 |
Joint Board: General
|
1983-1986 |
Box 3 | Folder 5 |
General: A
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 6 |
ILGWU
|
1979-1981 |
Scope and Contents
Korean; Chinese
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 7 |
Medical Insurance Plan: ILGWU
|
1979-1982 |
Box 3 | Folder 8 |
General: M
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 9 |
General: N
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 10 |
General: O
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 11 |
General: P
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 12 |
General: R
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 13 |
General: S
|
1976-1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 14 |
General: T
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 15 |
General: U
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 16 |
General: W
|
1981 |
Box 3 | Folder 17 |
Le Java, Mary: Local 134-3043
|
1935-1965 |
Box 3 | Folder 18 |
ALF, CIO: Labor Renewals
|
1941-1967 |
Box 3 | Folder 19 |
Bialis: Convention, Notes
|
1923-1976 |
Scope and Contents
1923-1929, 1946, 1959, 1976
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 20 |
Lewis, Elizabeth: Local 134-3066
|
|
Box 3 | Folder 21 |
J. Fogel
|
1930-1934 |
Box 4 | Folder 1 |
ALF-CIO: Printed Material
|
1981 |
Box 4 | Folder 2 |
Archives: Manual
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 3 |
C-C
|
1983-1987 |
Box 4 | Folder 4 |
ILGWU Convention
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 5 |
D-D
|
1984-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 6 |
Finance: Forms
|
|
Box 4 | Folder 7 |
Finance: Bills
|
1986-1987 |
Box 4 | Folder 8 |
Gerber Garment Technology
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 9 |
Homework
|
1985-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 10 |
T-T
|
1984 |
Scope and Contents
Japanese
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 11 |
Immigration
|
1986-1987 |
Box 4 | Folder 12 |
ILGWU: Memos
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 13 |
Jewish Labor Committee
|
|
Scope and Contents
List of Persons Rescued
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 14 |
Oral History
|
1973-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 15 |
National Board of Coat and Suit Industry
|
1974-1977 |
Box 4 | Folder 16 |
Plotkin, Abraham
|
1938-1984 |
Box 4 | Folder 17 |
Scarpaci, Jean
|
1974-1980 |
Box 4 | Folder 18 |
Society of American Archivists: Labor Archives Committee
|
1976-1981 |
Box 4 | Folder 19 |
Schulman, Adolph P.
|
1947-1976 |
Scope and Contents
1947, 1974-1976
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 20 |
Society of American Archivists
|
1975-1978 |
Box 4 | Folder 21 |
Society of American Archivists
|
1974-1975 |
Box 4 | Folder 22 |
Stenzor, Isidor
|
1933-1977 |
Scope and Contents
Yiddish
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 23 |
T-T
|
1982-1983 |
Box 4 | Folder 24 |
Robert F. Wagner: Tamiment- New York University
|
1975-1985 |
Box 4 | Folder 25 |
General: U
|
1979-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 26 |
Union Label
|
1983 |
Box 4 | Folder 27 |
Tamiment/Wagner Library
|
1983-1985 |
Box 4 | Folder 28 |
Water Cooler: Great Bear Spring Company
|
1984-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 29 |
General: V
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 30 |
Weiss, Shmuel
|
1976-1983 |
Scope and Contents
Yiddish
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 31 |
Yivo Institute
|
1975-1985 |
Scope and Contents
Yiddish
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 32 |
Convention: Opening Fanfare
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 33 |
Slaying the Angel: Women and their Role in the Lowell Experiment
|
1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 34 |
Four: The Union Within the Union
|
1967 |
Box 4 | Folder 35 |
ILGWU
|
1976-1986 |
Box 4 | Folder 36 |
General Executive Board: ILGWU
|
1976-1978 |
Box 4 | Folder 37 |
Imports: Tariffs
|
1972-1985 |
Box 4 | Folder 38 |
Union Literature [folder 1of 2]
|
1971-1986 |
Scope and Contents
French
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 39 |
Union Literature [folder 2 of 2]
|
1971-1986 |
Box 5 |
Text digitized from the collection.
|