International Ladies Garment Workers Union San Francisco Joint Board Records, 1931-1947
Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- International Ladies Garment Workers Union San Francisco Joint Board Records,
- Dates:
- 1931-1947
- Creators:
- International Ladies Garment Workers Union
- Language:
- English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], International Ladies Garment Workers Union San Francisco Joint Board Records, 1987/102, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This small collection contains correspondence, minutes, wage information and financial records of the union during the thirties and forties. Because of the abbreviated nature of the collection much of what is present in these categories is incomplete.
The bulk of the collection focuses on correspondence between union officials. Included with the correspondence are arbitration reports and investigations of suspected employer violations and union official fraud. One noteworthy item is a letter to the Joint Board written by J. B. McNamara and mailed from Folsom Prison where he was serving a sentence for charges stemming from the bombing of the Los Angeles Times Building. The letter conveys McNamara's position on the class struggle and the need for militant action.
Minutes constitute the second largest series in the collection. Joint Board and Executive Board minutes predominate with some papers from the three smaller locals (8, 191 and 213) which later merged to form the ILGWU local 101, the predominant chapter during the years of this collection.
A third series consists of wage and financial information. Lists of job titles and wage rates and a number of wage adjustment petitions of individual employees are included. Only a small sampling of financial material exists.
A final series groups together union bulletins published by the joint board.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The ILGWU was founded in 1900 under the affiliation of the American Federation of Labor. A San Francisco local was formed soon thereafter. Of the ten firms which in 1903 were using the label of the International, five were located in San Francisco.
The material in this collection dates back to 1931. At that time the president of the International was David Dubinsky and the vice president in charge of the Pacific Coast Bureau with offices in Los Angeles was Israel Feinberg.
In 1934 the dressmakers Local 8 joined with the knitgoods workers Local 191 to form Local 101. A Joint Board was set up to administer the new local composed of representatives from the Executive Boards of the two merging unions. It was headed by Sam White from the knitgoods workers. White, a member of the Young Socialist League, was soon removed from his position during a wave of anti-communist sentiment. Israel Feinberg then appointed Henry Zacharin to replace him. Jennie Matyas, organizer for the international, and according to her own accounts, the token woman representative, was another important figure in the union's activities. In 1937, the Cutters Union Local 213 merged with Local 101 thereby falling under the Joint Board's administration.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Center's online catalog.
- Physical description:
- 1.5 cubic feet
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 1999
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid derived from Wordperfect. Date of source: Unknown.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives & Research Center 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], International Ladies Garment Workers Union San Francisco Joint Board Records, 1987/102, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.
- Location of this collection:
-
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 4601630 Holloway AveSan Francisco, CA 94132-1722, US
- Contact:
- (415) 405-5549