Register of the Sarah Rozner Collection, 1924-1975
Processed by Jean Cirrito Melley; machine-readable finding aid created by
Xiuzhi Zhou
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
6120 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
URL: http://www.socallib.org
© 1999
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
Register of the Sarah Rozner Collection, 1924-1975
Collection number: MSS 024
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los Angeles, California
Contact Information:
- Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
- 6120 S. Vermont Avenue
- Los Angeles, California 90044
- Phone: (323) 759-6063
- Fax: (323) 759-2252
- Email: archives@socallib.org
- URL: http://www.socallib.org
- Processed by:
- Jean Cirrito Melley
- Date Completed:
- June 1999
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1999 Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Sarah Rozner Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1924-1975
Collection number: MSS 024
Creator:
Rozner, Sarah
Extent: 3 Record Storage Boxes
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
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.
Publication Rights
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 item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sarah Rozner Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles.
Biographical Sketch
Sarah Rozner (1892-1976), lifelong union activist in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, emigrated from Hungary to
Chicago in 1908 and began working in the garment trade the same year. Her union activism began when she took part in the major
1910 garment trade strike . She joined the Amalgamated soon after it was formed. As an early member she knew and worked with
all the early leaders.
Rozner's union activities during her Chicago years included serving as president of the 1915 Strike Committee, helping to
form a women's local, Local 275, in 1920, and being elected the first woman to serve as a business agent in 1921. Rozner,
who was self-educated, was awarded a scholarship to attend Brookwood Labor College for two years in 1924. A Socialist Party
member since 1928, she launched an unsuccessful campaign as the Socialist Party candidate for the office of Alderman in 1934.
In 1938 Rozner moved to Los Angeles. She was active in Amalgamated Local 278 as she continued to work in the garment industry.
Her activities in Los Angeles included working on the Glickman strike and the wardrobe laundry workers organizing campaign,
both in 1939, and serving as shop chair at Louart Manufacturing where she worked for 15 years until her retirement in 1959.
A strong believer in representation of women in unions, Rozner started a scholarship program in 1956, through the Amalgamated,
to train young women for union leadership. She was a staunch supporter of the idea of women from different unions coming together,
and became a member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women when a Los Angeles chapter was formed in 1974.
In 1973 Sherna Gluck, Director of the Oral History and Women's History Programs at California State University at Long Beach,
conducted extensive oral history interviews with Rozner who died in Los Angeles in 1976.
Scope and Content
The Sarah Rozner Collection was donated by Sherna Gluck in 1996. The Collection is divided into two series: UNION PAPERS (one
record storage box) and PERSONAL PAPERS (two record storage boxes.)
Related Collections
Ruth Miller, ILGWU, Amalgamated
Union Papers,
1939-1975
Scope and Content Note
The UNION PAPERS series contains 12 folders covering the years 1939-1975. The time period includes the years Rozner was active
in the Amalgamated in Los Angeles as well as her interests and activities following her retirement in 1959. Folders 1 and
2 cover biographical items including a questionnaire Rozner did for Yivo as part of its history of the Jewish labor movement
in America project. In folder 2 is
Sherna Gluck's book proposal, Presentation and Summary, from her oral history interviews with Rozner.
It includes items not in the collection such as photographs and writings on the formation of the women's local in Chicago,
Rozner's years at Brookwood Labor College, and other items.
The series also contains correspondence with Amalgamated officials and rank-and-file members such as Frank Rosenblum, Louis
Elet, Jean Hall, and Ruth Miller. Other items include union meeting notes, shop notes, fliers and bulletins, and photographs
from Louart Manufacturing picnics and meetings as well as personal photos.
Personal Papers,
1924-1975
Scope and Content Note
The PERSONAL PAPERS series contains 2 boxes of 9 folders covering the years 1924-1975. Rozner, who often described herself
as a scribbler, kept a personal journal all of her adult life. These extensive personal journals, together with correspondence
with family members and friends, make up the bulk of the personal papers series.
Box 1, Folder 1
Biography: Yivo Questionnaire, 1955
Box 1, Folder 1
"This is Your Life" letter, 1959
Box 1, Folder 1
Essays: A Factory Worker Seeks Knowledge; Looking for a Job
Box 1, Folder 2
Biography:
Presentation and Summary, edited by Sherna Gluck.
Box 1, Folder 2
Excerpts from the transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by Sherna Gluck in 1973, with headings for the excerpts
created by Gluck
Box 1, Folder 3
Amalgamated: Glickman strike, 1939
Box 1, Folder 3
Los Angeles Joint Board report, May 1939
Box 1, Folder 4
Amalgamated: Wardrobe Laundry Workers strike, 1939
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence: 1939-1944, 1947, including Frank Rosenblum, Louis Elet, Morris Spitzer
Box 1, Folder 4
Song Sheet: "Glory, Glory Amalgamated"
Box 1, Folder 5
Amalgamated: Louart Corp. Local 278, 1952-1957, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence - including Frank Rosenblum, Jerome Posner
Box 1, Folder 6
Amalgamated: Publications of the Los Angeles Joint Board, 1941-1959
Box 1, Folder 6
Newsreel: Sept., Oct. 1941
Box 1, Folder 6
Bulletin: Jan., April 1952; Nov. 1957; April, July-Aug., Nov. 1958; Jan., March, May, Aug.-Sept., Nov.- Dec. 1959.
Box 1, Folder 6
By-laws: Adopted Aug. 28, 1951
Box 1, Folder 6
Minutes of regular meetings: Aug. 4, Oct. 13, Nov. 10, 1959
Box 1, Folder 7
Sarah Rozner Scholarship to Provide Union
Box 1, Folder 7
Leadership for Women, 1956-1963, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 7
formation, notes, announcements, meetings, fliers
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence: Ruth Miller, Jerome Posner
Box 1, Folder 8
Amalgamated and personal correspondence 1959-1965
Box 1, Folder 8
Jean Hall, Los Angeles union member, notes re: Irving Roitman
Box 1, Folder 9
Amalgamated: Retirement greeting, testimonials, 1959
Box 1, Folder 9
notes, speeches, 1952-1969
Box 1, Folder 9
Correspondence including:
Box 1, Folder 9
Statement of Policy, Mt. Sinai Hospital and Clinic, Amalgamated chapter, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 10
Coalition of Labor Union Women 1974-1975
Box 1, Folder 10
formation of Los Angeles Chapter,
Box 1, Folder 10
newsletters, announcements,
Box 1, Folder 10
correspondence, including Ruth Miller
Box 1, Folder 11
Amalgamated Clothing Workers Almanac, 1940;
Box 1, Folder 11
Security...The Central Issue, 1952;
Box 1, Folder 11
Resolutions, Twenty-first Biennial
Box 1, Folder 11
Convention, May 12-16, 1958
Box 1, Folder 12
Photographs: Louart Corp. 1949,1950,1952, n.d.
Box 2, Folder 1-4
Personal notes, journals, 1924-1958, n.d.
Box 3, Folder 1-5
Personal notes, journals, correspondence, misc., 1956-1975
