ILGWU Ohio Kentucky Region Audio-Visual Materials, 1958
Collection Number: 5780/183 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU Ohio Kentucky Region Audio-Visual Materials, 1958
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/183 AV
Abstract:
This collection contains motion picture film, film strips, and reel-to-reel audio
tapes created by or for the Ohio-Kentucky Region. Included in the collection is documentation
of a convention, and educational, cultural, and recreational activities.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1.11 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
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 had been organizing in Cleveland since its early years, and by the 1930s,
the union was organizing in other parts of Ohio and Kentucky as well. The Cleveland
Joint Board and Cleveland Knitgoods Council represented workers in Cleveland, and
Cincinnati Joint Board represented workers in Cincinnati and parts of Kentucky. Together,
these represented ILGWU members in the Ohio-Kentucky Area.
By 1977, the Ohio-Kentucky Area, which included local unions in the Ohio-Kentucky
Region, Cleveland Joint Board and Knitgoods Council, and unaffiliated locals, claimed
a total membership of roughly 5,500 people. In 1978, the Ohio- Kentucky Regional Office
was dissolved. Local unions in Ohio became part of the Northeast and Western Pennsylvania
Department to create the Northeast, Western Pennsylvania, and Ohio Department. Kentucky
locals became part of the Upper South Department.
Abraham Katovsky was the ILGWU representative in Ohio from 1910 until his death 1945.
Nathan Solomon was appointed Manager of the Cleveland Joint Board, a position he held
until his passing in 1948. Louis Friend and Hyman Langer served short appointments,
until Nicholas Kirtzman assumed leadership of the region in 1950 and stayed in that
role until his death in 1963. Sam Janis was director of the regional office from 1963
until its dissolution in 1978.
The collection is composed of motion picture film, film strips, and reel-to-reel audio
tapes created by or for the Ohio-Kentucky Region. Included are Educational Department
16 mm and 35 mm films such as "Union at Play," "You and Your Union," "Education and
Cultural Activities," "Marvin Has It Made," and "Who Makes your Clothes," as well
as reel to reel audio recordings of conventions and conferences, and a 16 mm school
print of the ILGWU documentary "With These Hands."
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 Ohio Kentucky Region Audio-Visual Materials #5780/183 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. -- Ohio-Kentucky Region.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States.
Clothing workers --Labor unions -- United States.
Clothing workers -- United States
Industrial relations -- United States
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
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Box 1 | 1 |
"Bishop Shields"
|
|
Scope and Contents
7" audio tape reel
|
|||
Box 1 | 2 |
Regional Conference: Tape #4 Cut. 1. Evelyn Dubrow; 2nd part Kaufman. 2. Reports
|
1958 |
Scope and Contents
7" audio tape reel. June 14, 1958
|
|||
Box 1 | 3 |
"32-33 ILGWU and Health Center"
|
|
Scope and Contents
7" film reel
|
|||
Box 1 | 4 |
Convention film
|
|
Box 1 | 5 |
"Marvin Has It Made"
|
|
Scope and Contents
7" film reel
|
|||
Box 1 | 6 |
"Who Makes Your Clothes?"
|
|
Scope and Contents
7" film reel
|
|||
Box 1 | 7 |
"Easter Film"
|
|
Scope and Contents
9" film reel; CBS-ILGWU
|
|||
Box 1 | 8 |
"You and Your Union"
|
|
Scope and Contents
Film strip
|
|||
Box 1 | 9 |
"Educational and Cultural Activities"
|
|
Scope and Contents
Film strip
|
|||
Box 1 | 10 |
"Union at Play"
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|
Scope and Contents
Film strip
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Box 1 | 11 |
O.K. 1-19 [slides]
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|
Scope and Contents
Slides
|
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Box 1 | 12 |
O.K. 21-40 [slides]
|
|
Scope and Contents
Slides
|
|||
Box 1 | 13 |
O.K. 20, 40-48 + "extra" [slides]
|
|
Scope and Contents
Slides
|
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Box 2 | 1 |
With These Hands
|
|
Scope and Contents
School Print #402
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