ILGWU Myrtle Banks Memorabilia
Collection Number: 5780/212 MB
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Myrtle Banks Memorabilia,
Collection Number:
5780/212 MB
Creator:
Banks, Myrtle;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
1 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Memorabilia.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
This collection contains a variety of ILGWU and Union Label
memorabilia, including pins, fabrics, pot holders, and a bag. Also included are
clippings, certificates, and other materials documenting Myrtle Banks' work with the
ILGWU.
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.
Myrtle Banks was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas in 1919, and in 1946, began work
in California's garment industry, and became a member of in the Dressmakers' Union
Local 101 in San Francisco. In 1961, after fifteen years working as a garment worker
and, for a time, serving as shop steward at Koret of California in San Francisco,
Myrtle Banks became a business agent with the ILGWU. In 1984, Banks retired from her
position as business representative in the Pacific Northwest District Council.
Throughout her career, she served as Chair of the Alameda County Chapter of the A.
Philip Randolph Institute, Vice President of the Alameda County Civil Service
Commission, and Trustee of the San Francisco Joint Board.
This collection contains a variety of ILGWU and Union Label memorabilia, including
pins, fabrics, pot holders, and a bag. Also included are clippings, certificates,
and other materials documenting Myrtle Banks' work with the ILGWU.
Names:
Banks, Myrtle
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions
Textile workers--Labor unions
Form and Genre Terms:
Memorabilia.
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 Myrtle Banks Memorabilia #5780/212 MB. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
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Container
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Description
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| Box 1 | Folder 1 | |
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Board of Supervisors, County of Alameda, State of California (Myrtle Banks) ;
Community College Centers, San Francisco Community College District ; Award
of appreciation presented to … City of Hope ; AFL-CIO Community Service
Activities … successfully completed a course on 'Inter-Related Worlds of the
Home and Workplace"…
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| Box 1 | Folder 2 | |
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IILGWU button, McGovern means more JOBS, Carter/Mondale, Support Strike,
Watch Out I Vote, Tunney, Buy American Union AFL-CIO, SI CON 14,
Johnson/Humphrey VOTE (2), smiley face, United Labor for ALIOTO for Governor
"74", APRI State AFL-CIO, Member State AFL-CIO, APRI -- Myrtle Banks
business card - Pacific Northwest District Council, International Ladies
Garment Workers Union ; Official Dues Card, ILGWU ; Memo Book, ILGWU ;
rubber jar opener, ILGWU ; sponger, ILGWU
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| Box 1 | Folder 3 | |
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Photo is in an envelope with a check for Myrtle Banks from San Francisco
Joint Board, for $9 ;
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| Box 1 | Folder 4 | |
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Correspondence ; Program from A. Philip Randolph Institute, 3rd Annual
Testimonial Dinner ; News clippings ; Certificate from University of San
Francisco Labor Management School ; Civil Rights Digest, Summer 1968 ;
Welcome to the ILGWU ; Bienvenido ala ILGWU
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| Box 1 | Folder 5 | |
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2 pot holders made out of ILGWU material ; paper fan - Look for this
label
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| Box 1 | Folder 6 | |
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apron made of ILGWU material
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| Box 1 | Folder 7 | |
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small drawstring bag, design is the ILGWU union label
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| Box 1 | Folder 8 | |
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light blue with dark blue union labels printed on it
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| Box 1 | Folder 9 | |
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3 designs - gold material with white and blue union labels ; white material
with dark blue union labels ; multi colored patchwork material
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