ILGWU Myrtle Banks Photographs, 1956-1987
Collection Number: 5780/212 P

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Myrtle Banks Photographs, 1956-1987
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/212 P
Abstract:
This collection includes photographs of Myrtle Banks' retirement party in 1984, events at the City of Hope medical center, local union meetings, and ILGWU conventions.
Creator:
Banks, Myrtle
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1.61 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English, Chinese

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

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 includes photographs of Myrtle Banks' retirement party in 1984, events at the City of Hope medical center, local union meetings, and ILGWU conventions.
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 Myrtle Banks Photographs #5780/212 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780/212 MB: ILGWU Myrtle Banks Memorabilia

SUBJECTS

Names:
Banks, Myrtle
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions
Textile workers--Labor unions

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
Contents of a Photo Album
1984
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 2
"City of Hope" Photo Album
1984
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 3
Photo Album Contents
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 4
Retirement Pictures [Office] & Union Party
1983
Scope and Contents
Photographs; 13 of Retirement
Box 1 Folder 5
Miami Beach
1966
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 6
"Loose" Photographs
1983
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 7
Union. New Orleans
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 8
A.P.R.I. Washington D.C.
1980
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 9
Union Meeting. Fashion Show
1985
Scope and Contents
March 1; Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 10
Union Meeting. Fashion Show
1968
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included. May
Box 1 Folder 11
Union Convention. Herbert F. Humphrey
1971
Scope and Contents
May; Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 12
"Loose" Photographs
1981-1982
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 13
Mary Clemente, Mattie May, Larry & Me
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 14
May 1956 Convention & Union
1956-1987
Scope and Contents
Union August 29; Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 15
Korset X-Mas Party
1956
Scope and Contents
December 24; Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 16
Union Hall
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 17
Miscellaneous Union. M.M. Gauks
1973-1984
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 18
Myrtle & Union
1980
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 19
Local 101. Halloween Party
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 20
UFWOC & Grape Strike
1974
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 21
City of Hope Fundraiser & Union Float
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 22
Union Picnic
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 23
L.B.J. Union
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 24
Union Convention
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 25
County Fair
1979-1982
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 26
Union Picnic
Scope and Contents
Guiton Buses
Box 1 Folder 27
Konocte Conference Pictures
1976
Scope and Contents
January 21; Chinese Included
Box 1 Folder 28
Sam Clemente. Union Photographs
Scope and Contents
June 16
Box 1 Folder 29
Miscellaneous Union Photographs
1962
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 30
Photography Album Contents
Scope and Contents
Photographs Included
Box 1 Folder 31
Group Photograph
Box 1 Folder 32
Rolled photographs [5]
1956-1968
Scope and Contents
32nd Convention, Miami Beach 1965, ILGWU ; Atlantic City, N.J., May, 10-18, 1956, ILGWU (brittle with a couple tears) ; 33rd Convention, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Atlantic City, N.J. May 23rd to 30th, 1968 ; 34th Convention, Internation
Box 2 Folder 1
Photo Album 1 [Folder 1 of 2]
1983
Scope and Contents
June
Box 2 Folder 2
Photo Album 1 [Folder 2 of 2]
1984
Scope and Contents
May
Box 2 Folder 3
Photo Album
1983
Box 2 Folder 4
A. Phillip Randolph. 31st ILG Convention. Almeda County Civil Service Commission
1962-1976
Scope and Contents
Honoring W. March. Atlantic City (6/1962)
Box 2 Folder 5
Photo Album 2 [Folder 1 of 2]
Scope and Contents
Pin Included; Myrtle Banks and Others
Box 2 Folder 6
Photo Album 2 [Folder 2 of 2]
1956/1987
Scope and Contents
Myrtle Banks and others
Box 2 Folder 7
5 Panoramic Photos - see list in 'notes'
1956-1971
Scope and Contents
ILGWU - Atlantic City, NJ - May, 10-18, 1956 ; 34th Convention, ILGWU, AFL-CIO, Miami Beach, Florida - May 6-15, 1971 ; 32nd Convention, ILGWU - Miami Beach 1965 ; Twenty-Ninth Convention - ILGWU, AFL-CIO - Atlantic City, NJ - May 10-18, 1956 ; 33rd Conve
Box 3
5 panoramic photos