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Abe Plotkin Papers (ILGWU),
1924-1980
MSS 60
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Title: Abe Plotkin Papers (ILGWU),
Date (inclusive): 1924-1980
Collection number: MSS 60
Creator:
Plotkin, Abe
Extent:
2 boxes
2/3 linear foot
2/3 linear foot
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Abstract: Small collection of correspondence,
photographs and clippings related to the personal and professional activities
and concerns of Abe Plotkin, first organizer for the ILGWU in California
(1922-1932), who went on to organize in Hawaii, Miami, the Midwest, and New
York.
Language:
English.
Donated to library as a result of the Library's ILGWU Symposium
Project.
The collection is available for research only at the Library's
facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday
through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library
indicating the nature of their research query prior to making a visit.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library
for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of any
portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed
only with the express written permission of the Library's director. It is not
necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission
for publication, it is as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Abe Plotkin Papers (ILGWU), Southern
California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles,
California.
Abe Plotkin was the first organizer for the ILGWU (International
Ladies Garment Workers Union) in California in 1922-1932. He was arrested for
vagrancy in Los Angeles in 1923. He went on to organize workers in Hawaii,
Miami, the Midwest, and New York City before retiring in 1957. Even after
retirement Plotkin kept up his union membership and remained in touch with many
of the people he had known through organizing. In 1947 Sarah (Sy) Rothblatt
became his second wife.
The collection contains correspondence, clippings, photographs,
wedding certificate and other family papers. Correspondence makes up the
majority of the collection. Most of it is personal though many of Plotkin's
correspondents were also active in union and organizing activities that are
referred to in the letters. There are also letters concerning his wife's
inheritance of property in Israel and the complicated negotiations involved in
settling the estate. Some of the family related documents are in Hebrew. Two
folders of correspondence and other documents concern issues around Plotkin's
retirement and benefits.
Professional papers include information on organizing in Hawaii
(1958), Miami (1954), and at the Real Silk Hosiery Mills in Indiana (1951). The
Hawaii materials include scripts from radio addresses Plotkin gave in Hawaii.
Among Plotkin's correspondents are: Morris Bialis, Bill Jaffe, Martin Plettl,
Richard Rohemer, Morris Siegal, Mark Starr, Lazare Teper, Clore Warne, and
Frances Wulkin. Pauline Schindler (wife of architect Rudolph Schindler) wrote
seeking his assistance with the case of Jean Field whose children had been
removed from her home and custody given to her husband because of her political
ideas. Additional correspondence is filed by letter of the alphabet (P-Q, R, S,
and W). A 1923, front-page article from the
L.A. News, covers Plotkin's arrest and trial for vagrancy
during his stint as an organizer in California. Other clippings pertain to
African Americans (
Negroes), Russia, and Theory (which deals
mainly with economic and political issues). Also included is one folder of
photographs, most unidentified, but one group shot from Mexico City includes
Diego Rivera.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
Related Material at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Title: ILGWU Project Files,
Date: 1914-1993
Physical Description:
4+ boxes
Title: ACTWUA (Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union of
America) Records,
Physical Description: [unprocessed collection]
Title: ACTWUA - Ruth Miller Papers,
Physical Description: [unprocessed collection]