Leeder, Elaine Collection of Rose Pesotta Papers, 1912-1961
Collection Number: 5928
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Elaine Leeder Collection of Rose Pesotta Papers, 1912-1961
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5928
Abstract:
Correspondence, publications, photographs, and videotapes of Rose Pesotta, organizer
for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
Creator:
Pesotta, Rose
Leeder, Elaine
Quanitities:
2 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Born Rakhel Peisoty in Derazhnia, Ukraine in 1896 to grain merchants, Pesotta was
well educated and influenced by the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will), and eventually
adopted anarchist views.
Pesotta emigrated to New York City at the age of 17 (1913), and found employment
in a shirtwaist factory, she joined the ILGWU very soon after. The ILGWU was a union
that represented mostly Jewish and Latina female garment workers. She was elected
to the all male executive board of ILGWU Local 25 in 1920. Pesotta went to Brookwood
Labor College for two years in the 1920s.
In 1933 the union sent her to Los Angeles to organize the garment workers there.
The organizing of the Mexican immigrant garment workers lead to the Los Angeles Garment
workers Strike of 1933. As a result of this success, she was made vice-president of
the union in 1934.
In 1944, she resigned from the executive board of the union in protest of the fact
that, despite 85% of the union's memebership were women, she was the sole female executive
member.
Rose Pesotta died in 1965.
1896 Born in Derazhnya, Russia, November 20
1909-12 Attended Rosalia Davidoffs private girls' School
1913 Arrived in USA with her grandmother
1914 Joined Local 25, ILGWU
1914-24 Worked as a seamstress
1919 Theodore Kushnarev deported to Russia
Father dies in Derazhnya
1922 Attended Bryn Mawr summer school
Researched Sacco Vanzetti case for Local 25
1924-26 Attended Brookwood Labor College
1926-33 Worked as a seamstress in NYC
1930 Attended Wisconsin summer school
1933 Organized in Los Angeles for ILGWU
1934 Elected Vice-President of ILGWU
Sent to Puerto Rico to organize seamstresses
1935 Organized in Seattle
Organized in Buffalo
1936 Organized rubber workers in Akron
Began involvement with Powers Hapgood
Organized in Montreal
1937 Organized auto workers in Flint for CIO
Returned to Montreal to organize
Reelected to second term as vice president
Slashed by razor during Cleveland Knitting Mill Strike
1942 Vacation in Mexico
1944 Resigned as ILGWU vice president
Published "Bread Upon the Waters"
1945 Worked for Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith
1946 Traveled to Norway, Sweden, Poland
Resigned from ADL and returned to New York City as a seamstress
1949 Worked as Midwest regional director for the American Trade Union Council of
the Histadrut
Death of Powers Hapgood
1950 Visited Europe and Israel
1955 Married Albert Martin (Frank Lopez)
1958 Published "Days of Our Lives"
1965 Died in Miami, Florida on December 6
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
Elaine Leeder Collection of Rose Pesotta Papers #5928. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
Pesotta, Rose, 1896-
Leeder, Elaine J.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
B'nai B'rith. Anti-defamation League
Subjects:
Labor disputes -- United States
Labor unions -- United States
Labor movement -- United States.
Working class -- United States
CONTAINER LIST
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Container
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Description
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Date
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Series I. Correspondence
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Scope and Contents
Arranged in alphabetical order.
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| Box 1 |
American Labor Education Service
|
1943 | |
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Scope and Contents
Form letter from treasurer asking for support.
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| Box 1 |
Bercovici, Henri
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1954 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal correspondence to "Albert and Rose."
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| Box 1 |
Cypress, S.
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1958 | |
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Scope and Contents
1 letter-untranslated.
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| Box 1 |
DeLeon, Solon
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1955 | |
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Scope and Contents
Holiday greetings.
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| Box 1 |
Farber, Litt.
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1953 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal.
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| Box 1 |
Fields, Sally
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1950 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal correspondence on Joint Board; Millinery Workers letterhead
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| Box 1 |
Hapwood, Powers
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1940-1949 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal and business correspondence. Dicsusses John L. Lewis broadcast, the CIO,
FDR, Ford Strike (1941), organizing prudential agents, Carlo Tresca murder, UAW membership,
work on family farm and many other topics. Closes one letter (1940) "my Rose of Akron
and Flint." Also includes four page tribute by Rose Pesotta after his death in 1949
and newspaper clippings
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| Box 1 |
Hapwood, Powers
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1940-1949 | |
| Box 1 |
Hapwood, Powers
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1940-1949 | |
| Box 1 |
Hapwood, Powers
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1940-1949 | |
| Box 1 |
Hapwood, Powers
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1940-1949 | |
| Box 1 |
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
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1935-1943 | |
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Scope and Contents
Includes greeting card and miscellaneous
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| Box 1 |
Jewish Labor Committee
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1958-1959 | |
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Scope and Contents
Miscellaneous
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| Box 1 |
Kroportkin, S.
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1951 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal
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| Box 1 |
Kushnarev, Theodore
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1912-1925 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal love letters to Rose after his deportment to Russia
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| Box 1 |
Kushnarev, Theodore
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1912-1926 | |
| Box 1 |
Kushnarev, Theodore
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1912-1927 | |
| Box 1 |
Kushnarev, Theodore
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1912-1928 | |
| Box 1 |
Miscellaneous
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1946-1959 | |
| Box 1 |
Panken, Jacob
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1959 | |
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Scope and Contents
Miscellaneous
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| Box 1 |
Randolph, A. Philip
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Scope and Contents
Ticket - "Salute to A.P. Randolph," n.d.
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| Box 1 |
Rubin, Milton
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1959 | |
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Scope and Contents
Memo from Pesotta with biographical information
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| Box 1 |
Saks, Hesh
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1952 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal
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| Box 1 |
Siegel, Sophie
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1951 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal
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| Box 1 |
Spivak, Joseph
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1956 | |
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Scope and Contents
Personal
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| Box 1 |
Thomas, Norman
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1954-1957 | |
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Scope and Contents
Note of thanks for her financial support; letter from Thomas requesting additional
biographical information in order to write an introduction for her book (1957).
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| Box 1 |
Wohl, Paul
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1954 | |
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Scope and Contents
Greeting card
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| Box 1 |
Wolk, Morton
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1955 | |
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Scope and Contents
Greeting card
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Series II. Poland-Norway-Sweden
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Scope and Contents
Rose Pesotta traveled to Poland, Norway and Sweden in 1946. She was invited by the
Norwegian Labour Party to addres an International Labor Institute on the labor and
social situation in the U.S. She visited Poland to see the effects of World War II.
This series includes correspondence, manuscripts, notes and related pamphlets.
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| Box 1 |
Correspondence
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1946-1948 | |
| Box 1 |
Notes
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Scope and Contents
Includes index cards with notes and addresses
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| Box 1 |
Pamphlets
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| Box 1 |
Pamphlets
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| Box 1 |
Includes outline of chapter heads for book
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Scope and Contents
3 pages Anti-Semitism in Russia; 3 pages Prologue; 1 page David and his family
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| Box 1 |
Untitled manuscript which describes her trips abroad
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Scope and Contents
75 pages
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| Box 1 |
Manuscript describing effects of the war in Norway, Sweden, and Poland.
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Scope and Contents
13 pages
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| Box 1 |
"Flying to Poland" (4 pages); "Stockholm, Sweden" (5 pages); "Norwegian Labor Movement."
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| Box 1 |
Journals describing her trips to Warsaw, children's camps, Majdanek Death Camp, and
Lodz
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| Box 1 |
Notes on Poland, Sweden and Norway
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Scope and Contents
5 pages description of her travels; 10 pages describing her visit to Norway and other
manuscript drafts
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| Box 1 |
Draft essay by Pesotta entitled "Nacht on Nebel" (Night and Fog)
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Scope and Contents
22 pages
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Series III. Publications and Manuscripts
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Sub-Series A. Drafts of manuscripts
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Scope and Contents
Rose Pesotta's writings
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| Box 1 |
Includes drafts and notes for chapters about Russia and Lenin
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| Box 1 |
Index cards containing research notes for her various writing projects
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Sub-Series B. Pamphlets and Articles
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Scope and Contents
Publications by others. Arranged alphabetically
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| Box 1 |
A-D
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Scope and Contents
Beals, Carlton, "Rifle, Rule in Cuba"; Cox, James, "Hitler's Hatchet Man!" Dressmakers'
Voice, December 1934; and others
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| Box 1 |
F-K
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Scope and Contents
ILGWU, "The Communist Plague in Our Unions"
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| Box 1 |
L-P
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Scope and Contents
Nash, Al, "The Shop Steward System"
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| Box 1 |
Q-Z
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Scope and Contents
Articles by Walter Reuther; article by Sidney Solomon
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Sub-Series C. Broadsides, Leaflets, Announcements
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| Box 1 |
National Negro Conference; New York State Young Communist League; International Labor
Defense and others
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| Box 1 |
Communist Party; Cloakmakers No. 70; and others
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| Box 1 |
Communist Party; Young Communist League; ILGWU Joint Board Cloak, Skirt, Dressmakers;
Local 22
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| Box 1 |
Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union
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| Box 1 |
ILGWU Locals 48-89; ILGWU General Strike Committee; Joint Board Cloak and Dressmakers;
American Labor Party; Communist Party; Furriers Progressive League; Unemployed Citizens
League; National Committee of the Left Whing Groups of the ILGWU: and others
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Sub-Series D. Newspaper clippings
|
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| Box 1 |
Clippings
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1927-1961 | |
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Series IV. Address File
|
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Scope and Contents
Includes index and business cards with addresses
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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| Box 1 |
Address file
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Series V. Miscellaneous
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| Box 1 |
Miscellaneous
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Scope and Contents
Includes Pesotta's insurance cards, membership cards, identification and business
cards
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| Box 7 |
Scrapbook
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