Scope and Contents
The collection provides a comprehensive start to finish look at the book "David Dubinsky: A Life with Labor," that A. H. Raskin wrote with David Dubinsky in 1977. The majority of the collection consists of the complete transcriptions from the audio cassettes of Dubinsky's memoirs, titled and arranged by cassette number. Furthermore, there is the entire original manuscript of the book with hand written proofreading and editing marks. The drafts of chapters, corrections, and hand written notes help to reveal the writing process for the book. Additionally, there is collected material that supplies biographical and historical information on Dubinsky, including an article written by Raskin for "The New Leader" entitled "D.D. and the American Dream," the "Labor History" special supplement from 1968 on Dubinsky, "The Case Against David Dubinsky" by William Weinstone, an ILGWU Local 10 50th Anniversary history book, the Time Magazine August 29, 1949 issue where Dubinsky appears on the cover, and a copy of "David Dubinsky: A Pictorial Biography."
The collection also contains a copy of the unbound manuscript of "A Portrait of a Leader: A True Labor Story of a Man and an Era" by Elias Lieberman (see 6036/001).
Dates
- 1930-1970
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
Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States, the ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, 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. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).
Biographical / Historical
Abraham H. Raskin was born April 26, 1911 in Edmonton, Canada and raised in Seattle. After a brief stay in Berlin, the Raskin family settled in New York. Raskin started at the City College of New York in 1927 and studied education and government. During his time at college, he became interested in journalism and edited the student newspaper, yearbook and literary magazine. After graduation in 1931, Raskin remained for a time and took some graduate courses, and also did part-time work at "The New York Times" as a campus correspondent. In 1934, he became a full time employee at the "Times" and reported on unemployment before becoming a labor correspondent. During World War II, Raskin was chief of the Army Industrial Service Division, entering the service as a captain and being discharged with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Returning to "The New York Times," Raskin became the chief labor correspondent. He followed the strikes, disputes, and negotiations, from the coal mines, to the steel mills, and the auto factories. He was on a first name basis with union leaders and management. In 1961, Raskin joined the editorial board and later became the assistant editor of the editorial page. He spent more than four decades at "The New York Times" covering labor, writing articles, and overseeing editorials, while becoming an authority on labor and industrial relations. Raskin died in 1993 at the age of 82.
Extent
2.5 cubic feet
Abstract
The collection contains the transcript of the David Dubinsky interview for "David Dubinsky: A Life With Labor, " along with notes, biographical material, and a draft of the book, as well as a copy of Elias Lieberman's "A Portrait of a Leader: A True Labor Story of a Man and an Era."
Quantity:
2.5 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Articles, reprints, pamphlets, correspondence, photographs.
General
- Contact Information:
- Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives 227 Ives Hall Tower Road Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3183 kheelref@cornell.edu https://catherwood.library.cornell.edu/kheel/
- Compiled by:
- Kheel Staff, November 07, 2011
- EAD encoding:
- Kathryn Dowgiewicz, January 10, 2013
- Title
- Raskin, Abe. Collection.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Compiled by Kheel Staff
- Date
- January 10, 2013
- 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