ILGWU. Chicago Joint Board records

The records of the Chicago Joint Board are composed of two series: General Correspondence and Subject Files. These files not only provide information on the garment industry in the city of Chicago, but the correspondence and documents also present a picture of the smaller markets, such as rural Indiana and northern Michigan, including the small shops, manufacturers and local workers. The correspondence is arranged by city, many of which are within the Midwest Region that encompassed Chicago and the Joint Board. The records contain matters pertaining to shops in the smaller Midwest towns and include correspondence from organizers regarding shops and strikes, organizing campaigns, and often times resistance from employers and employees. Also well documented are the markets in bigger cities such as Decatur, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, and Peoria, and the records of the Milwaukee Joint Board (Locals 188, 273, 292, 322 and 334). Resistance to organizing in the shops of the small towns and rural areas is illustrated through union promotional material including flyers, leaflets, newsletters, and booklets extolling the virtues of joining the union.



The second component of the collection consists of subject files. The records include very early reports and correspondence; campaign to preserve Jane Addams Hull House; letters and photos from children "adopted" by the Joint Board that they financially supported after the war; hearings and case decisions that were brought before an impartial tribunal over disputes and complaints between the union, manufacturer associations (such as the Chicago Association of Dress Manufacturers), and individuals. Additionally, various departments within the national ILGWU structure that the Chicago Joint Board and its locals had business with are represented including the departments of auditing, research, political, management-engineering, education, and union label. Notable individuals in the series include Morris Bialis, David Dubinsky, Morris A. Goldstein (secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Joint Board), Frederick Umhey, Abraham Plotkin, Harold Schwartz (assistant director Midwest Department,1959-1966), and Louis Stulberg.



Of particular importance are the minutes of the Joint Board, beginning with 1914 which is in Yiddish, as well as the minutes of the various health and welfare funds, which also include reports agreements, and charters, by-laws. The subject files also provide documentation on the locals that comprised the Joint Board. There are Chicago Locals publications including, "The Needle," "Good News," which was published by the Educational Department of Locals 76 and 261, "Our Aim," the official organ of Local 91, and "Our Voice," published by the Chicago Joint Board.



The collection offers an interesting location to find information on the history of the Chicago area and garment industry, which are available in the reports submitted to "Justice." These provide summaries from Chicago and news from the Midwest Department, including updates on Michigan and Indiana. The collection also provides a status for the Chicago cloak and dress industry, as well as the Midwest, particularly useful through the reports submitted to the ILGWU General Executive Board.



There are also reports and correspondence from the Midwest Department, of which the Joint Board was a part of, but also see Midwest Region Records 5780/101.



Locals represented in the records of the Chicago Joint Board include: 67 (Toledo, OH),90 (Elgin, IL), 120 (Decatur, IL), 133 (Peoria, IL), 187 (Racine, WI), 189 (Batavia, IL), 238 (Gary, IN), 240 (Aurora, IL), 272 (Gilman, IL), 277 (Indianapolis, IN), 286 (Ishpeming, MI), 293 (Marquette and Negaunee), 317 (Bay City, MI), 328 (Kokomo, IN) 337 (Elkhart, IN), 354 (Alpena, MI), 355 (Clinton, IA), 355 (Manistee, MI), 364 (Port Huron, MI), 380 (Shelbyville, IN), 382 (Lincoln, IL), 392 (Logansport, IN), 441 (Kalamazoo, MI), 489 (Kendallville, IN), 508 (Mauston, WI).