ILGWU Archives Department Records
Collection Number: 5780/111
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Archives Department Records,
1900-1987
Collection Number:
5780/111
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
4 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Records (documents) .
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
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.
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.
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
Form and Genre Terms:
Records (documents)
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 Archives Department Records #5780/111. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1974-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1978-1981 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1974-1979 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1974-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1978 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | 1974-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | 1980-1982 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | 1978-1981 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | 1977-1984 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 | 1977-1982 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 | ||
| Box 1 | Folder 12 | 1981-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 13 | 1900-1903 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 14 | 1974-1978 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 15 | 1980 | |
|
Spanish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 16 | 1977-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 17 | 1978-1980 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 18 | 1974-1976 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 19 | 1975-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 20 | 1973-1982 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 21 | 1962-1980 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 22 | 1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 23 | 1973-1975 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 24 | ||
| Box 1 | Folder 25 | 1976-1985 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 26 | 1978-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 27 | 1975-1985 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 28 | 1979-1987 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 29 | 1979-1983 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 30 | 1979-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 31 | 1979-1987 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 32 | 1980-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 33 | 1978-1985 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 34 | 1979-1987 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 35 | 1979-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 36 | 1979-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 37 | 1979-1984 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 38 | 1979-1987 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 39 | 1980-1987 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 40 | 1978-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 41 | 1979-1982 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 42 | 1980 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 43 | 1978 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 44 | 1983-1986 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 45 | 1974-1980 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 46 | 1976-1978 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 47 | 1970-1971 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 48 | 1972-1974 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 49 | 1967 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 50 | 1981-1982 | |
|
Oversized, on top of other folders
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1980 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1983 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1982 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1981-1982 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1979 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1934-1949 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1979 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1937-1954 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 9 | 1979 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 10 | 1925-1950 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 11 | 1933-1936 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 12 | 1937-1946 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 13 | 1975 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 14 | 1937-1941 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 15 | 1934-1949 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 16 | 1954-1955 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 17 | 1933-1941 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 18 | 1933-1934 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 19 | 1935-1947 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 20 | 1927-1932 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 21 | 1974 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 22 | 1976-1978 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 23 | 1974 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 24 | 1923-1953 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 25 | 1941-1969 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 26 | 1947-1958 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 27 | 1936-1959 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 28 | 1935-1968 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 29 | 1977-1979 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 30 | 1954-1967 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 31 | ||
| Box 2 | Folder 32 | 1948-1979 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 33 | 1940-1973 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 34 | 1930-1950 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 1 | 1977 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 2 | 1980-1984 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 3 | 1947 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 4 | 1983-1986 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 5 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 6 | 1979-1981 | |
|
Korean; Chinese
|
|||
| Box 3 | Folder 7 | 1979-1982 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 8 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 9 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 10 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 11 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 12 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 13 | 1976-1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 14 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 15 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 16 | 1981 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 17 | 1935-1965 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 18 | 1941-1967 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 19 | 1923-1976 | |
|
1923-1929, 1946, 1959, 1976
|
|||
| Box 3 | Folder 20 | ||
| Box 3 | Folder 21 | 1930-1934 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 1 | 1981 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 2 | ||
| Box 4 | Folder 3 | 1983-1987 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 4 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 5 | 1984-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 6 | ||
| Box 4 | Folder 7 | 1986-1987 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 8 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 9 | 1985-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 10 | 1984 | |
|
Japanese
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 11 | 1986-1987 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 12 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 13 | ||
|
List of Persons Rescued
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 14 | 1973-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 15 | 1974-1977 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 16 | 1938-1984 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 17 | 1974-1980 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 18 | 1976-1981 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 19 | 1947-1976 | |
|
1947, 1974-1976
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 20 | 1975-1978 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 21 | 1974-1975 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 22 | 1933-1977 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 23 | 1982-1983 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 24 | 1975-1985 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 25 | 1979-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 26 | 1983 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 27 | 1983-1985 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 28 | 1984-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 29 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 30 | 1976-1983 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 31 | 1975-1985 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 32 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 33 | 1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 34 | 1967 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 35 | 1976-1986 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 36 | 1976-1978 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 37 | 1972-1985 | |
| Box 4 | Folder 38 | 1971-1986 | |
|
French
|
|||
| Box 4 | Folder 39 | 1971-1986 | |
| Box 5 | |||