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International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Frederick F. Umhey, Executive Secretary. Correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: 5780/005.

Scope and Contents

Much of the collection is made up of routine correspondence. There is, however, significant material documenting such ILGWU activities as the annual convention, Union Health Center, Unity House (the ILGWU resort), and Unity Broadcasting Corporation, which owned a number of radio stations across the country. In addition, the collection contains correspondence with government officials about labor situations in the garment industry during World War II, and information about health care, benefits, and pensions for workers. Some of Umhey's personal records are also included.

Significant individuals in the collection include Luigi Antonini, David Dubinsky, Morris Hillquit, and Meyer Perlstein. Among the notable organizations represented in the collection are the joint boards and local unions of the ILGWU, Labor League for Human Rights, Labor's League for Political Education, the Liberal Party of New York, the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Dates

  • 1934-1955 [bulk 1940-1950].

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

Frederick Umhey was born in New York City in 1895. Unlike most officials in the ILGWU, Umhey was never employed as a garment maker. He began working in the office of Morris Hillquit, the labor lawyer, while still a teenager, and remained there until Hillquit's death in 1933. The following year, ILGWU President David Dubinsky appointed Umhey to the newly-created post of Executive Secretary. In that role, he served as administrator for such ILGWU programs as the Union Health Center, Unity House, and the death benefit fund. He also served as secretary to all of the standing committees of the union's General Executive Board. Frederick Umhey died in office in 1955.

Extent

28 cubic feet

Abstract

The Umhey Executive Secretary records consist primarily of organizational records, subject files, and correspondence dealing with union administrative matters.

Arrangement

Series I. Executive Secretary correspondence.
Boxes 1-55
Series II. Personal correspondence.
Box 56

Quantity:

28 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Correspondence

General

Contact Information:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives Martin P. Catherwood Library 227 Ives Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3183 kheel_center@cornell.edu http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel
Compiled by:
Robert E. Lazar
Date completed:
March 1976
EAD encoding:
Casey S. Westerman, July 9, 2002
Title
International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Umhey, Frederick F., Executive Secretary. Correspondence, 1934-1955 [bulk 1940-1950].
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by Robert E. Lazar
Date
July 9, 2002
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 02/23/2024: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
  • 2007-05-29: converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002

Repository Details

Part of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives Repository

Contact:
227 Ives Hall
Ithaca NY 14853