ILGWU Mid-West Region Records
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Scope and Contents
The majority of the collection is composed of material that is of a political nature. The contents help to illustrate the role of politics within the ILGWU at the regional level. Much of the collection is organized by individuals, mainly Congressional candidates for House Districts and Senate seats within the locals of states from the Midwest Region, such as Michigan, Indiana, and particularly Illinois. The majority of the material includes campaign letters and correspondence from Congressional candidates as they reached out for support from labor within their districts. Often, the communication involves the political education directors, Evelyn Dubrow, executive secretary of the Political Department for the ILGWU, and Frank Klein of the Political Department for the ILGWU Midwest Region. Some of the subjects and topics contained in the records is material from the Governor campaign for Illinois; correspondence with Congressmen who opposed NAFTA; ILGWU funded campaigns; clippings from races in key legislative districts; mayors; fundraiser dinners and events; campaign contributions from the union; and correspondence regarding election results or legislation passed. Beyond regional and local political matters, information can also be found on a national level, including presidential campaigns.
Another component of the collection encompasses memos and letters that originated from the office of the Midwest Region Director, Stanley Gross. The remainder of the collection consists of collective bargaining agreements between locals and various garment shops and apparel companies, often for different years. Locals from the Midwest included in agreements are: 76, 261, 272, 120, 337, 382, 449, 455, 471, 499, 517, 336-K, 343, 488, 314, 186, 468, 543, 459, 529, 551, 443, and 317. Additionally, there are local handbooks and by-laws, as well as informational pamphlets.
The collection also contains oversize material of original charters for the following locals:
81 Cloak and Suit Cutters Union of Chicago, 1911
18 Chicago Cloak and Suit Pressers Union, 1914
59 Cloak, Suit and Dress Finishers' Union (Chicago), 1920
261 Blouse, Skirt, Pajamas and Bathrobe Workers' Union (Chicago), 1936
436 De Kalb IL 1946
240 Aurora IL, 1936
76 White Goods Workers of Chicago, 1933
Chicago Joint Board consisting of locals 5, 18, 59, 81, 100 on 1961
5 Cloakmakers Union of Chicago, 1909
Midwest District Council composed of locals 76, 261, 191, 240, 303, 336, 372, 436, 529, 272, 505, 5, 81, 100, 326, 337, 355, 395, 442, 455, 488 on 1980
Dates
- 1909-1996
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
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
From its earliest years, the ILGWU was involved in organizing women's garment workers in Chicago, and efforts to gain members in the city and throughout the Midwest continued throughout the union's existence. The Midwest Region represented workers in Chicago and much of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa.
Morris Bialis was the ILGWU's longtime representative in the Midwest, Manager of the Chicago Joint Board, and the Midwest Region Director from 1922 to 1976. Harold Schwartz served as regional director from 1976 to 1978. Schwartz was succeeded by Lou Montenegro, who held the post until his retirement in 1990. Stanley Gross was Midwest Region Director at the time of the ILGWU's merger with ACTWU in 1995.
Extent
3.83 cubic feet
Abstract
The collection contains charters, correspondence, agreements, printed material, and memorabilia of the office of the Midwest Region of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Two series of correspondence (one alphabetical, another chronological) and collective bargaining agreements constitute the bulk of the collection. Several Midwest Region local unions are represented in the records: 5, 18, 59, 76, 100, 191, 240, 261, 272, 303, 326, 336, 337, 355, 373, 395, 436, 442, 455, 488, 505, 527.
Quantity:
3.8 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Records (documents).
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:
- T. Dean, June 11, 2009
- EAD encoding:
- Kheel Staff, April 11, 2019
- Title
- ILGWU Mid-West Region Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Compiled by T. Dean
- Date
- April 11, 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
227 Ives Hall
Ithaca NY 14853