Women on the Waterfront Oral History Project Collection, 1992-2005, bulk 1992-1997

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Summary

Creators:
California State University, Northridge. University Library
Abstract:
The oral history interviews of female ILWU members were conducted between the years 1993 and 1997 as part of the ILWU, Local 13 "Women on the Waterfront" Oral History Project. They were conducted as a continuation of the ILWU Oral History Project which documented the stories of the union's workforce who labored on the docks of the Southern California Waterfront between the 1930s and 1960s. After the "1982 Golden et al. Consent Decree" more and more women came to work on the West Coast docks. These oral histories began to tell the story of waterfront from a female perspective.
Extent:
1.60 linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Background

Scope and content:

The Women of the Waterfront Oral History Project Collection consists of oral history interviews of female ILWU members conducted between the years 1993 and 1997 as part of the ILWU, Local 13 "Women on the Waterfront" Oral History Project. They were conducted as a continuation of the ILWU Oral History Project which documented the stories of the union's workforce who labored on the docks of the Southern California Waterfront between the 1930s and 1960s. After the "1982 Golden et al. Consent Decree" more and more women came to work on the West Coast docks. These oral histories began to tell the story of waterfront from a female perspective.

In the early 1990s, Dr. Nancy Fernandez and several of her students from the CSUN History Department, in cooperation with the Urban Archives Center, undertook the "Women on the Waterfront" project to collect the personal stories of the women who worked the docks alongside the men, as well as those women who worked for the union as secretarial workers. Members of the ILWU Ladies Auxiliary, Local 8 were also asked to participate in the oral history project.

Some of the issues touched upon in these oral histories include family life of the women laborers, sexual and racial discrimination on the docks, the yearly picnic commemorating the "Bloody Thursday" strikes of 1934 and the Modernization and Mechanization Agreement which brought more women to work on the waterfront. In 1995, the Urban Archives Center was awarded a generous grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust to continue work on the "Women on the Waterfront" project. Final accessioning and transcription of this oral history project was completed in November 2005.

The collection is divided into two series, Audio Recordings (1992-1997) and Transcripts (2005).

Biographical / historical:

The library created this collection of materials for study and research.

Processing information:

Jessica Geiser, 2014

Arrangement:

Series I: Audio Recordings, 1992-1997

Series II: Transcripts, 2005

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Documents
Audiovisual materials

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Location of this collection:
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330, US
Contact:
(818) 677-4594
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