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

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

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.
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 Archives Department Records #5780/111. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/121: ILGWU Archives Department, Robert Lazar Papers 5780/121 PUBS: ILGWU Archives Department Collected Publications

SUBJECTS

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.