Bread and Roses

The 1199 News Photographs collection consists of approximately 32,500 black and white photographs in 8" x 10" prints in addition to negative film and contact prints collected during the publication of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employee's periodical. The images depict union activity; hospital interiors and exteriors; urban streetscapes; individuals and groups including union members and their families, political figures, celebrities, artists, and visiting dignitaries; and social, cultural, and political events sponsored or supported by Local 1199. The collection is particularly strong in its documentation of civil rights and union leaders including civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, John Lewis, and Bayard Rustin; United Farm Workers (UFW) co-founders Csar Chvez and Dolores Huerta; and other activists including former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and various anti-apartheid activists. The bulk of the photographs were taken in the New York metropolitan region although they document important strikes, union activities, and political demonstrations throughout the country. The collection is a particularly rich source of images from the 1960s-early 1980s.



The photos in this collection reflect the racially diverse membership in Local 1199 where African-Americans, Latinos, and whites were the three most prominent groups; 85% of the Hospital Division was Black or Latino. The collection depicts Black and Latino union leaders including Ramon Malave, Ramon Ramirez, Theodore Mitchell, and Doris Turner; Hispanic and Black delegates and organizers such as Armando Ramirez, Vic Garcia, Lorenzo Santiago, Julio Pagan, Gloria Arana, Anibal Garcia, Hilda Joquin, Jessie Olsen, Joseph Brown, and Thelma Bowles; Hispanic and African-American retirees; and numerous Black and Latino union members on the job, at home, participating in union activities, or posing for portraits. Some images of Local 1199-sponsored activities reflect the special needs of a particular population group such as Spanish-language classes, Spanish members' meetings, Spanish Affairs Committee meetings, Hispanic retiree dinner-dances, Spanish dances, Latin festivals, and a Union Women Caribbean Dinner. There are also images of Spanish-language signage at strikes, on picket lines, and in news photos. In total, these images illustrate extensive participation by Hispanic and Black members in all levels of union life.



A large majority of folders and envelopes in National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees 1199 News Photographs have been succinctly labeled. These labels describe the subject of the images enclosed in each folder or envelope and the date the images were taken. A single folder or envelope can contain as many as fifty individual photographs. An attempt has been made here to list as many hospitals, individuals, and events as possible although the listings are not exhaustive. Researchers should consult the repository's index and the negative envelopes for a more complete listing.



The collection was largely unarranged at the end of 2008 but is expected to be processed in the future. As a result, some file names/locations may change. Contact a reference archivist at the repository for assistance locating a specific file or item.