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ILGWU Local 35 Records

 Collection
Identifier: 5780/031

Scope and Contents

The records of Local 35 are delineated into four series. The first series consists primarily of speeches. The speeches range in topic and type of address, from upcoming elections, nominations, union business, the industry, and often given at local meetings. They are typed out for reading and include edits. They were most likely given by Morris Kovler, who was elected manager of Local 35 in 1957.



The second series contains reports to the membership. These documents include information on new styles and fabric for the upcoming season, as well as patterns. There is general correspondence as well as financial information such as income and expenditures, and lists of shops that had given raises.



The third series consists of the bound minute books from the Executive Board meetings. The majority of these are in handwritten Yiddish. The final series is composed of a single minute book of the Health and Welfare Fund of Local 35. The first half of the minutes are in Yiddish, while later years appear in English.

Dates

  • 1927-1977

Language of Materials

Collection material in English, Yiddish, Chinese

Conditions Governing Access

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.

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

Local 35 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Coat, Suit, Sportswear and Allied Garment Pressers Union, was chartered in 1903 and based in New York, New York.

Extent

3 cubic feet

Abstract

The records of Local 35 includes minutes of Executive Board and Health and Welfare Fund meetings, speeches and reports of Manager Morris Kovler, as well as some correspondence and financial data.

Quantity:

3 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Records, minutes, speeches .

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-center
Compiled by:
D. Mordente, September 26, 2008
EAD encoding:
Kheel Staff, April 02, 2019
Title
ILGWU Local 35 Records
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by D. Mordente
Date
April 02, 2019
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)

Repository Details

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

Contact:
227 Ives Hall
Ithaca NY 14853