ILGWU Training Institute Evaluation Forms
Collection Number: 5780/184
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Training Institute
Evaluation Forms, 1952-1965
Collection Number:
5780/184
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
0.5 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Records (documents).
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
This is a restricted collection consisting of evaluations of
trainees from the years 1952, 1959, and 1965.
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 Training Institute was established in 1950, under the direction of Arthur
A. Elder. The Training Institute was a competitive program that offered successful
applicants one year of intensive training in labor education and leadership.
Participants attended lectures by ILGWU officers and staff and seminars on topics
relevant to the work of the union. Graduates of the program, some of whom had been
working with the ILGWU in some capacity before attending the ILGWU Training
Institute, were then placed in positions within the union, such as organizer or
business agent.
While graduates were placed in these staff positions, one of the ideas behind the
formation of the training institute was to prepare the next generation of the
ILGWU's leadership. Indeed, among the first graduates of the training institute was
Jay Mazur, who would serve as the ILGWU's final president from 1986 to 1995. After
graduating more than 300 individuals, the ILGWU Training Institute was suspended in
1961. It was resumed in March 1963, but instead of a year-long program, trainees
participated in four-week courses.
This is a restricted collection consisting of evaluations of trainees from the years
1952, 1959, and 1965. The evaluation forms from the year-long training institutes
are lengthier and more descriptive. Forms from 1952 and 1959 include name; address;
personal information; civil status; military record; personal information;
education; work experience; union experience; parents' background; narrative
evaluations of the trainee's performance in two field assignments; classroom
evaluation; and note of the trainee's final assignment. Some evaluations include
photographs of the trainee. The evaluation forms from the 1965 training institute
include name, address, personal information, civil and draft status, where, since
when, and in what position the trainee had worked for the ILGWU, education, work
experience, and previous union affiliation.
Access Restrictions
Access to the evaluation forms may be provided in the form of photocopies of the
same, but with the name and other identifying information blacked out.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Training Institute.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United States.
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Clothing workers--United States.
Industrial relations--United States.
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 Training Institute Evaluation Forms #5780/184. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1965 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1952 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | ||
|
Undated.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1959 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | ||
|
Undated.
|
|||