ARCHIVAL MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

The Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives and Tamiment Archives house many collections of organizational records and personal papers that offer researchers a wealth of material on the history of American women and the labor movement. Tamiment/Wagner is home to the papers of such important female radicals and labor leaders as Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Rose Pastor Stokes. The holdings are particularly rich on organizing in several areas of clerical and non-domestic service work, fields in which women have increasingly predominated in the twentieth century and which, until recently, labor historians have often overlooked in favor of manufacturing. Various collections cover U.S. women's experiences in the twentieth century not only in female-dominated occupations (e.g., telephone operating, garment production) but also breaking into "men's" work (e.g., fire fighting, construction) and in areas shared, if not necessarily equitably, by men and women (e.g., entertainment industries, government employment). Women's unequal place in much of the labor movement and attempts to overcome discrimination on the job and in the union hall are also well-documented in many sources.

PLEASE NOTE: The descriptions below vary in length, but many are brief. For more information on specific collections, please contact Tamiment/Wagner staff, check the BobCat records, or consult the finding guides available for most collections. Finding guides are generally unpublished and held at Tamiment/Wagner for on-site use, but over time will also be made available on the web (for an example, see the Eleanore Collins Collection). Not all collections are listed in BobCat, but for many that are, the records include detailed historical descriptions along with information on contents, provenance, restrictions on use, etc. (Be sure to use the "detailed display" function if you use the Telnet version of the catalog.)

Collections by Industry/Sector:

Clerical/Technical/Professional Workers
Ferry, Elinor. Papers, 1952-ca. 1967. [Newspaper Guild]
Gardner, Virginia. Papers, 1922-1990. [Newspaper Guild]
Kosut, Riki. Scrapbook, 1941-1942. [United Office and Professional Workers of America]
NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund - District 65, UAW: Organizing Campaign. Records, 1983-1985.
Office and Professional Employees International Union. Minutes, 1958-1981.
Office and Professional Employees International Union. Local 153 (NY, NY). Minutes, 1941-1981.
Progressive Librarians Council. Records, 1939-1944.
Wade, Betsy. Papers, 1972-1982. 1974-1981 (bulk). [Newspaper Guild]

Entertainment Industry Workers
Actors' Equity Association. Records, 1915[?]-circa 1980s.
American Guild of Musical Artists. Minutes [microform], 1936-1980.
American Guild of Variety Artists. Records, 1947[?]-1982.
Associated Actors and Artists of America. Minutes [microform], 1919-1982.
United Scenic Artists (U.S.). Local 829. Records, 1897-1978.

Garment/Millinery Workers
Afterman, Albert. Papers, 1929-1974. [ILGWU, Local 10]
Casso, Freda. Papers, 1932-1982. [United Shoe Workers]
Schneiderman, Rose. Papers, 1882-1972. [ILGWU]
United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union. Records, 1827-1954.
United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers International Union. Headwear and Allied Workers Joint Board (NY, NY). Records, 1926-1984.

Government Workers
AFSCME. District Council 37 (NY, NY). Minutes [microform], 1959-1968.
AFSCME. Local 1930, New York Public Library Guild. Records, 1962-1979.
AFSCME. Local 371 (NY, NY). Records, 1950-1977.
Bellush, Bernard, and Jewel Bellush. Papers, 1947-1983. [District 37, AFSCME]
First Women Firefighters of New York City Collection, 1977-1993.
Jonas, Gilbert. Papers, 1962-1969. [AFSCME (public relations)]
Layzer, Judith. Papers, 1969-1986. [Women in City Government, NY, NY]
New York Mailers Union Local 6. Minutes, 1896-1954.
Union of State Employees. Service Employees International Union, Local 382 (NY). Records, 1937-1983.

Retail and Distributive Workers
Department Store Strikes and Organizing. Papers, 1930-1941.
Distributive Workers Union. District 65, United Automobile Workers (NY, NY). Records, 1933-1975.
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Local 1-S. Records, 1939-1979.
Weiner, Jon. Research files relating to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, 1984-1986.

Service Workers (Non-Retail)
Ferry, Elinor. Papers, 1952-ca. 1967. [TWU]
Hesse, Star D. Papers, 1976-1991. [Independent Union of Flight Attendants]
Stern, Charlotte Todes. Papers, 1927-1956. [Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Union, Hotel and Club Employees Union]
Stewardesses for Women's Rights. Records, 1963-1987.
Transport Workers Union of America. Records, 1934-1980. [flight attendant locals]

Telecommunications Workers
Collins, Eleanore. Papers, 1951-1988. [Communications Workers of America]
Communications Workers of America. Local 1150 (NY, NY). Records, 1939-1978.
Communications Workers of America. Local 1153. Records, 1944-1987.
Communications Workers of America. Local 1172. Records, 1953-1993.
Communications Workers of America. Local 1180 (NY, NY). Records, 1956-1980.

Trades
Layzer, Judith. Papers, 1969-1986. [Committee for Women in Nontraditional Jobs, NY, NY]
United Tradeswomen (NY, NY). Records, 1979-1984.

Other Industries
Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley. Papers, 1890-1964. [International Workers of the World]
Stokes, Rose Pastor. Papers, 1905-1933. [Cigar workers]
Young, Ruth. Papers, 1941-1991. [United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America]

Collections by Other Subjects:

Consumer Activism and Public Relations
Jonas, Gilbert. Papers, 1962-1969. [AFSCME public relations]
Kosut, Riki. Scrapbook, 1941-1942. [UOPWA public relations]
Union Label and Service Trades Council of Greater New York and Long Island. Records, 1911-1979.

Education/Research
Colby, Josephine. Papers, 1912-1933. [Brookwood Labor College]
Labor Research Association (U.S.). Records, 1914-1981.

Histories of Women and Labor and How They are Created
Baxandall, Rosalyn, and Linda Gordon. Research files relating to America's Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present.
Weiner, Jon. Research files relating to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, 1984-1986.

Political Activism
Borochowicz, Elly Breucker. Papers, 1913-1985. [AFL Free Trade Union Committee]
Ferry, Elinor. Papers, 1952-ca. 1967. [anti-McCarthyism]
Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley. Papers, 1890-1964. [IWW, ACLU, Communist Party]
Gardner, Virginia. Papers, 1922-1990. [Communist Party]
Labor Research Association (U.S.). Records, 1914-1981. [Communist Party]
Stern, Charlotte Todes. Papers, 1927-1956. [Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee]
Stokes, Rose Pastor. Papers, 1905-1933. [Socialist; Communist Party]
Young, Ruth. Papers, 1941-1991. [Communist Party]

Workplace Organizing (Outside and in Conjunction with Unions)
First Women Firefighters of New York City Collection, 1977-1993.
Kopelov, Connie. Papers, 1974-1987. [Coalition of Labor Union Women]
Layzer, Judith. Papers, 1969-1986. [Women in City Government, Committee for Women in Nontraditional Jobs, NY, NY]
Lesbian and Gay Labor Network (NY, NY). Records, 1986-1991.
New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Records, 1977-1989.
Progressive Librarians Council. Records, 1939-1944.
Schneiderman, Rose. Papers, 1882-1972. [Women's Trade Union League]
Stewardesses for Women's Rights. Records, 1963-1987.
United Tradeswomen (NY, NY). Records, 1979-1984.
Wade, Betsy. Papers, 1972-1982. 1974-1981 (bulk). [Coalition of Labor Union Women]

AFSCME. District Council 37 (NY, NY). Minutes [microform], 1959-1968. One microfilm reel. Founded in 1944, District Council 37 grew to represent thousands of New York City employees. DC 37's early membership was limited to city hospitals and Departments of Parks, Finance, and Health. In 1954, Mayor Robert F. Wagner officially recognized city workers' right to organize and in 1955, a representation election among city workers brought DC 37 thousands of new members. The AFL-CIO merger in 1955 brought several new, large affiliates to the Council, such as the Civil Service Technical Guild, Local 375. Beginning in the late 1950's, locals steadily increased their number of bargaining units in many city service agencies, cultural institutions, and in the uniformed services. By 1967, District Council 37 reached a membership of 50,000, and by 1972, 100,000. The minutes of Executive Board and Delegates' meetings reflect years of recognition struggles, organizational restructuring, massive recruitment, and changes in the power structure of the union. Minutes before 1959 were not available, and minutes after 1968 are still in use at the Council headquarters. Within the minutes are occasional agendas, handbills, correspondence, and other related documents.

AFSCME. Local 1930, New York Public Library Guild. Records, 1962-1979. 11 linear feet (10 boxes). Note: Grievance files are restricted. The New York Public Library Guild Local 1930 was chartered by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in April 1968. The records reflect the internal development of Local 1930 as well as the Local's relationship with District Council 37, AFSCME, other library locals, and with the AFL-CIO on the state and national levels.

AFSCME. Local 371 (NY, NY). Records, 1950-1977. 21 linear feet (21 boxes). The lineage of the Social Service Employees Union, Local 371, can be traced to the 1930s but it was not until 1961 that the New York City Department of Labor granted a independent charter to the Social Service Employees Union, and it broke away from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, AFL-CIO (AFSCME). SSEU's members, professional employees working for agencies in New York City's Human Resource Administration, were militant not only about traditional trade union issues such as wages and working conditions but also about larger social issues such as the Vietnam War. After a successful strike by the union in 1965, New York's Mayor Lindsay proclaimed that all issues other than wages were outside the scope of collective bargaining. In order to fight this policy and other issues, SSEU called another strike in 1967, this time without adequate preparation and with disastrous results. Member opinion began to shift in the direction of reaffiliation with AFSCME, which occurred in 1969, with the merger of SSEU and Local 371 of District Council 37, AFSCME. See also the AFSCME Local 371 Photographic Collection.

American Guild of Musical Artists. Minutes [microform], 1936-1980. 48 microfilm reels [Mathias & Carr]. The American Guild of Musical Artists was founded in 1936 by 22 solo musical artists who wanted to eliminate unfair practices in their professions, promote the musical arts, and further the mutual aims of artists in the United States. Complete and detailed minutes of the weekly Board of Governors meetings, through 1980, are documented. Also included are minutes from New York Area meetings, Metropolitan Opera Shop meetings, and minutes from 1944-48 of the choral committee. Proceedings and transcripts of sessions are available from AGMA conventions of 1948, 1949, 1950, and 1962.

American Guild of Variety Artists. Records, 1947[?]-1982. 162 linear feet. AGVA was chartered in 1939 to represent "variety" entertainers, e.g. circus and vaudeville performers, comedy and animal acts, and night club singers, and organized stars like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby alongside poorly paid exotic dancers. From 1942 to 1946 and in 1947, AGVA was held in trusteeship by its parent organization, the Associated Actors and Artists of America (the "4 A's", see listing directly below). In 1962, AGVA encountered more woes when placed under federal investigation for links to organized crime. The McClennan Committee hearings painted AGVA as a weak, corrupt "strippers' union" (transcripts of the hearings are available in Tamiment Library). The troubled history of this union provides a window on gender and postwar popular culture as well on the entertainment industry and US Labor movement.

Associated Actors and Artists of America. Minutes [microform], 1919-1982. 9 microfilm reels, arranged chronologically. The Associated Actors and Artists of America (the "4 A's") was founded in 1919 as an umbrella organization composed of nine autonomous performing arts unions. The Associated Actors and Artists of America minutes detail all decisions and policies of the organization, president's reports, executive board decisions, biennial electoral conventions, and officials' correspondence to member unions. Minutes of special meetings and hearing held before the executive board usually refer to jurisdictional disputes.

Communications Workers of America. Local 1150 (NY, NY). Records, 1939-1978. 30 linear feet. The jurisdiction of CWA Local 1150 has shifted somewhat over the years since its founding in 1951, but its basic purpose had been to represent long-distance operators, maintenance workers, and clerical workers employed by AT&T in the New York metropolitan area. Through the period covered by this collection, half or more of all Long Lines (long distance) workers were women.

Communications Workers of America. Local 1153. Records, 1944-1987. 1976-1987 (bulk). 5 linear feet. CWA Local 1153 was chartered in 1975, after more than 500 members of Manhattan-based Local 1150 (see note above) petitioned for a new local to represent AT&T's long distance employees working in the White Plains and Mount Kisco area. Local 1153 has taken a strong stand on many issues, including job losses, job pressures, seniority rights, the creation of new job titles, health and safety, and discrimination based on sex and race.

Communications Workers of America. Local 1172. Records, 1953-1993. 4 linear feet. CWA Local 1172 had its origins in the American Communications Association, a CIO union that organized radio and telegraph operators. After the ACA was expelled from the CIO in 1950 on charges of communist domination, the CWA organized some ACA members as CWA Local 1172, chartered in 1954. The Local represented workers east of the Mississippi at the American Cable and Radio Corporation and, after 1967, its new corporate parent, ITT World Communications. More recently, the takeover of ITT World Communications by Western Union in 1987 involved the Local in protracted struggles over layoffs, restructuring, outsourcing and the transfer of benefits. Local 1172 merged with CWA Local 1177 in 1993.

Communications Workers of America. Local 1180 (New York, NY). Records, 1956-1980. 15 linear feet. CWA Local 1180 had its origins in the Municipal Management Society, a group founded in 1954 to represent Grade 5 Clerks in the New York City civil service who were considered to have managerial responsibilities. The MMS, needing affiliation with an AFL-CIO international union, joined the CWA in May 1965 as Local 1180, its first public employees' local. By 1988 Local 1180 represented some 9,000 city employees, more than 70 per cent of them women.

Department Store Strikes and Organizing. Papers, 1930-1941. 5 linear in. Pamphlets, leaflets, newsletters, and clippings relating to sit-down strikes, department store and office workers strikes and organizing in the 1930's. Contains printed material from the Office Workers' Union, an affiliate of the Trade Union Unity League, and the Department Store Employees' Union, Local 1250 (New York).

Distributive Workers Union. District 65, United Auto Workers (NY, NY). Records, 1933-1975. 64 linear feet (66 boxes). This large and left-leaning union, a major historical presence in the New York City labor movement, was for many years the largest affiliate of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, AFL-CIO, and counted many sales workers among its diverse membership, including employees of major New York City departments stores like Stern's. In recent decades, District 65 (now defunct) achieved innovative successes in organizing white-collar and often female workers in publishing houses, non-profit institutions, and at universities. See also District 65's Photographic Collection and Oral History Collection.

First Women Firefighters of New York City Collection, 1977-1993. 6.25 linear feet. This collection traces female firefighters' hard-fought efforts to achieve gender equity in the NYC Fire Department after it announced in 1977 it would accept applications from women. The collection covers three general areas: activist Brenda Berkman's personal history as she strove to become a firefighter, the Berkman v. City of New York litigation, and the founding and development of the United Women Firefighters (UWF).

Labor Research Association (U.S.). Records, 1914-1981. 11.42 linear feet. The Labor Research Association was founded in 1927 to "conduct investigations and studies of social, economic, and political questions in the interest of the labor movement." The founders were Grace Hutchins, Anna Rochester, and Robert Dunn, LRA's director from 1927-1975, along with Solon DeLeon and Alexander Trachtenberg. The LRA was politically close to the Communist Party, although there were no formal ties. The principal activities of the LRA have been research, consulting, and the publication of books, pamphlets, articles, and serials on labor and industrial relations, U.S. political economy and industry, civil liberties and other issues of concern to the labor movement. The collection consists mainly of unpublished manuscripts and reports, research notes, memos, and correspondence. Also included in the collection are personal memorabilia and other materials documenting related political activities of founding director Robert Dunn.

Lesbian and Gay Labor Network (NY, NY). Records, 1986-1991. 4 linear feet. LGLN was founded in New York City in 1987 by lesbian and gay trade union activists to promote lesbian and gay rights in unions and labor solidarity in the gay community. Activities include the Coors Boycott Coalition, publishing Pride at Work (see section, "Studies and Guides on Contemporary Issues," for listing), organizing lesbian and gay committees in unions, and resource referral, particularly regarding AIDS in the workplace and domestic partnership benefits. Included in the records are the LGLN Newsletter and the Lesbian and Gay Teachers Association newsletter.

New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Records, 1977-1989. 1980-1986 (bulk). 11 linear feet. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established rules and regulations governing health and safety standards in American workplaces. In the mid-seventies, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) funded several educational programs under the auspices of Cornell University's Labor Studies Program. These programs increased health and safety consciousness among health care professionals. Out of these programs, a group of individuals organized NYCOSH in 1976 as an independent organization to advocate safe and healthy workplaces. NYCOSH began as a strictly volunteer organization that solicited funds and membership from labor unions and individuals. NYCOSH provided four basic services for its members: technical support, educational services, political education, and a task force addressing the special needs of minority workers. Ronald Reagan's election in 1980 represented a serious threat to OSHA legislation. NYCOSH joined other organizations in forming a national coalition to fight attempts to weaken OSHA legislation. NYCOSH played a major role coordinating what would become the Committee to Save OSHA and efforts to persuade federal officials, senators and congressmen that OSHA must be maintained as it was and, in the future, strengthened. Other topics that NYCOSH addressed in the 1980s included toxic substances and reproductive hazards and attempts to regulate women's work based on these issues. Among its many accomplishments are legislative regulations governing asbestos, VDTs, workers' compensation, right to know, and toxic substances. NYCOSH's activities, locally and otherwise, helped to establish a nation-wide health and safety movement to protect workers and encourage workers to protect themselves.

New York Mailers Union Local 6. Minutes, 1896-1954. 8 microfilm reels. New York Mailers Union Local 6 of the International Typographical Union, chartered in 1896, represented workers who handled mail and distribution in New York City's binderies, newspapers, and commercial printing houses. While a minority, women's involvement in the affairs of Local 6 was significant, both as members (25% by the 1920s) and in the women's auxiliary active throughout the 'teens and 'twenties.

NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund - District 65, UAW: Organizing Campaign. Records, 1983-1985. .5 linear feet. This collection documents the efforts of a small group of legal support staff employed by a presumably progressive not-for-profit employer to win union recognition. NOW-LDEF, a renowned champion of women's rights, resisted its support staff's organization in the Legal Service Workers, UAW Local 2320, and ultimately denied them a contract. This collection include materials from the organizing drive, NLRB hearings, and failed negotiations.

Office and Professional Employees International Union. Minutes [microform], 1958-1981. 3 microfilm reels. Locals of the AFL's Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Accountants Union organized clerical workers since the early twentieth century, but the chartering of the Office Employees International Union (OEUI) in 1945 created a national AFL union for private sector clerical and office employees. OEIU's growth was slow compared to its CIO rival, the United Office and Professional Workers of America (UOPWA), until the latter's expulsion from the CIO for "Communist domination" in the late 1940s. By the early 1950's OEIU had organized 40,000 members, and by the mid 1960's, 50,000. To emphasize the growing importance of professional workers, in 1965 it became the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). In recent decades the increase of clerical employment along with women workers' growing union militancy have greatly expanded OPEIU's membership. By 1987 it counted 150,000 members, about 70 percent of whom were women.

Office and Professional Employees International Union. Local 153 (New York, NY). Minutes [microform], 1941-1981. 5 microfilm reels. Local 153 was one of the largest locals of OPEIU (see entry above for more on the international). Local 153's initial strength was in organizing the clerical employees of trade unions in New York City, but it soon expanded to include salesmen in the soft drink and brewery industries, hotel administration employees, and clerical workers in the food processing industry. Close contacts with union office staff was advantageous: officers and organizers of unions under contract with Local 153 aided 153's recruitment of clerical workers in their industries. In the mid-1950's, the Local launched campaigns for sales and clerical workers at General Motors, Blue Cross, HIP, and several major textile companies. Amid the student protest movement of the late 1960's, Local 153 began organizing clerical workers on university campuses throughout the New York metropolitan area. In 1987 Local 153 represented 17,000 white-collar workers, including 3,000 university office and professional workers.

Progressive Librarians Council. Records, 1939-1944. 5 linear in. (1 box). The Progressive Librarians Council was established in 1939 to promote political activity in librarianship. The records are chiefly correspondence and monthly PLC bulletins relating to the council's promotion of open, efficient libraries, as well as progressive legislation, civil rights, and links with organized labor.

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Local 1-S (NY, NY). Records, 1939-1979. 12 linear feet (12 boxes). Local 1-S, representing employees of Macy's New York, was founded in 1939. Seeking to distance itself from other department store locals that joined the left-leaning Distributive Workers Union (see District 65 Collection above), Local 1-S operated independently for a time as "Local 1-S, Unaffiliated." In 1951, it voted to reaffiliate with the CIO under a separate charter as an international, the United Department Store Workers of America. In 1955, the Local rejoined the revitalized Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. See also Local 1-S Photograph Collection.

Stewardesses for Women's Rights. Records, 1963-1987. 1972-1976 (bulk). 2.5 linear feet. SFWR was established in 1972 by activist flight attendants from several US airlines to tap the new "consciousness" among stewardesses of the sexual discrimination they faced in airline policies (such as marriage bans and age limits applied only to women) and in cultural stereotypes ("Coffee, tea or me?"). The group worked on many fronts to improve working conditions for flight attendants and replace stewardesses' reputation as sexy glamour girls with a more professional image. See also the SFWR Oral History Collection.

Transport Workers Union of America. Records, 1934-1980. 300 linear feet. Within the TWU Collection, Air Transport Division, are records of: Pan Am Local 505, representing flight attendants along with other workers since the late '40s; Local 550, representing flight attendants on several airlines from across the U.S. from the early 1960s to 1970s; and single-carrier locals that split off from and superceded 550 in the later 1970s. In the 1960s, flight attendants in the TWU lobbied for better aviation safety regulation and, after passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, campaigned to end airlines' discriminatory treatment of stewardesses, who were typically fired upon marriage, childbirth, weight gain, or reaching thirty-some years of age. By the 1970s, however, many feminist flight attendants wanted even more fundamental change. Some believed an alternative to union organizing was necessary (see Stewardesses For Women's Rights Collection above), while others sought to change the union itself. In the mid- to late 1970s, some airline groups within ALSSA broke away to form new Locals within TWU, while others left the TWU altogether to form independent unions (see Star D. Hesse/IUFA Papers below). Flight attendants' activism and dealings with the national TWU leadership, and with competing flight attendant unions, are well-documented in this collection.

Union Label and Service Trades Council of Greater New York and Long Island. Records, 1911-1979. 13.5 linear feet. The Label Council, like its national AFL counterpart, focused on lobbying, service and publicity, all in the interest of union-labeled goods produced by members of craft unions. After 1949, the council placed greater emphasis on publicity tactics, including annual buyers' guides to union-made products, labor-management trade shows during "Union Label Week," the "Miss Union Maid" beauty contest, a weekly Labor Press radio program, and other efforts designed to promote union labor and products, and, increasingly, to encourage unionized business to remain in the metropolitan area. Union label activities have traditionally been an important site for mobilizing union-affiliated women as consumers. See also the Council's Photographic Collection.

Union of State Employees. Service Employees' International Union, Local 382 (NY). Records, 1937-1983. .66 linear feet. The Union of State Employees originated among clerks in the Claims, Underwriting, and Actuarial departments of the State Insurance Fund and was first chartered by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in 1937. In the post-WWII era, after being affiliated with the CIO for a time, the USE went independent, then rejoined the CIO as Local 382 of the Government and Civic Employees Organizing Committee. With the AFL-CIO merger, the Local joined Council 50 of AFSCME, which spearheaded organizing among New York State employees, but never competed successfully against the Civil Service Employees Association (which it considered a company union). At its height in 1969, Council 50 claimed 15–18,000 members to CSEA's 100,000. After the rest of Council 50 withered away, Local 382 continued to exist as an independent union (CSEA had bargaining rights for the State Insurance Fund), working sub–rosa to represent employees and further state employees' rights. The Local claims an important role in winning health insurance for state employees. Local 382 was eventually absorbed by the Public Employees Federation (SEIU) representing professional, scientific and professional employees of the state of New York, but disbanded in 1982.

United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union. Records, 1827-1954. 26.75 linear feet (65 boxes). The United Hatters Cap and Millinery Workers was formed in 1934 by the amalgamation of United Hatters of North America and Cloth Hat, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union.

United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers International Union. Headwear and Allied Workers Joint Board (New York, NY). Records, 1926-1984. 1940-1960 (bulk). 9 linear feet. The New York Headwear Joint Board of the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union was formed in 1980 as a merger of Millinery Locals 24 and 42 and five other headwear locals. In 1982, the UHCMW merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Related bodies documented by this collection include the Women's Headwear Group, 1930-1940.

United Scenic Artists (U.S.). Local 829. Records, 1897-1978. 5.33 linear feet and 15 microfilm reels. The United Scenic Artists originated as the United Scenic Artists Association, chartered by the AFL in 1918 as Local 829, Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America. The union's main purpose was to safeguard and maintain the high standards of the member crafts and to fight unfair conditions. When Local 829 was first organized, scenic design and painting, costuming, lighting, make-up, and properties were all executed by one artist, but over the years the work became increasingly specialized and Local 829's roster of job categories grew to include a variety of stage and film crafts. Women have always been active in the union. They have found employment in all its fields, scenery design and painting as well as costume design and make-up.

United Tradeswomen (NY, NY). Records, 1979-1984. 1.5 linear feet. United Tradeswomen was founded in 1979 by several women in the trades who were concerned about the lack of job opportunities for tradeswomen in New York City. Initially, Mary Garvin helped found the group to lobby the carpenters and electricians to recruit women for trades jobs. Some of the members also came from the Women in Apprentice Agency Project (WAP), which was funded by New York City to encourage women to acquire trades skills and enrolled women in training programs. United Tradeswomen identified itself as a political and advocacy group whose major focus was to integrate the trades. Through coalition-building with other New York City minority trades groups, such as Fightback, United Tradeswomen hoped to increase women's on-the-job participation on construction sites around the city.

Baxandall, Rosalyn, and Linda Gordon. Research files relating to America's Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present. 12 boxes. Open to researchers by appointment. Extensive collected research materials used to produce an important documentary reader surveying U.S. women's labor history.

Bellush, Bernard, and Jewel Bellush. Papers, 1947-1983. 7.5 linear feet. This collection consists of the research files on District 37, AFSCME, the Bellushes gathered in preparation for their book, Union Power and New York: Victor Gotbaum and District Council 37 (Praeger, 1984). Materials include background articles about public unions, correspondence and minutes of the Executive Department, and numerous committees, including the Education Committee, the Political Action Committee, the Municipal Employees Legal Services, and the Health and Hospitals Corporation. Records of locals include scattered correspondence, legal dockets, newsletters, and information relating to job actions. A vast amount of material relates to issues of collective bargaining and the New York City fiscal crises. While the majority of records were created after 1974, there are a few records that date back as far as 1957. Some of the more significant subjects include the Welfare Strike of 1965, the New York City Fiscal Crises, and the College of New Rochelle. Among the important correspondents in this collection are Victor Gotbaum, Lillian Roberts, Calogero Taibi, and Jerry Wurf. See also the Bellush Oral History Collection.

Borochowicz, Elly Breucker. Papers, 1913-1985. 1942-1984 (bulk). 6 linear feet. Elly Breucker Borochowicz and her husband Leo Borochowicz (1900-53) worked, under the direction of militant anti-communist Jay Lovestone, for the Free Trade Union Committee of the American Federation of Labor, and later for the International Affairs Department of the AFL-CIO. Refugees from fascism, both received U.S. visas in 1941 with the aid of Lovestone. Elly received a Ph.D. in sociology in 1927 in her native Germany, while Leo, born in Poland, studied economics and history in Berlin. Both worked as researchers and educators, frequently on behalf of the labor movement, in Europe and the U.S. before settling at the AFL around the end of World War II.

Casso, Freda. Papers, 1932-1982. .21 linear feet. Freda Katz Casso worked on ladies' shoes and slippers in New York shops between 1932 and 1960, but was working in Chicago for several months in 1934 when a general strike of slipper workers was broken. Casso worked within AFL Boot and Shoe Workers Union Local 54 with a Rank and File Committee to take control of the union from mobsters. In 1937, the Rank and File moved the local into the CIO's United Shoe Workers and launched a city-wide organizing campaign. Casso served as the unpaid secretary of the local for many years and as a member of the General Executive Board of Joint Council 13 from 1937 to 1952 and as shop chairwoman until her retirement. The United Shoe Workers of New York City eventually merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. The collection includes a 16-page memoir Casso wrote in 1992 which outlines themes in shoe worker union history, including the role of the Communist Party, the CIO, and women. See also the Freda Casso Photographic Collection.

Colby, Josephine. Papers, 1912-1933. 1922-1933 (bulk). 2 linear feet (2 boxes). Josephine Colby was born at Colby's Landing, California in 1878 and was educated at the University of California, Berkeley (BA, 1899) and at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She was married briefly (1921-1924) to Louis Kramer and lived at Brookwood Labor College in Katonah, New York and in Nantucket. She was a high school teacher in Oakland and Fresno, California (1915-1919) and an instructor at Chicago Labor College (1921), specializing in English language skills before joining the Brookwood faculty in 1922.

Collins, Eleanore. Papers, 1951-1988. 1 linear foot. Please consult the internet finding guide for more information on this telephone worker and union activist: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/collections/findingaids/tam/html/collins.htm.

Ferry, Elinor. Papers, 1952-ca. 1967]. 1952-1960 (bulk). 2 linear feet. Open to researchers by appointment. Ferry was a journalist, labor organizer, and socialist. She became a sports journalist as a teenager, worked to organize the Newspaper Guild, then became an assistant to Michael Quill, head of the Transport Workers Union. In the 1950s, Ferry documented the activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and worked to aid those who refused to testify before Congressional investigations of communism on First Amendment grounds. Ferry also was active in the Independent Socialist Party (ISP), which attempted to unite former communists with other socialists, from 1958 to 1960. In the 1960s Ferry worked on an unpublished book-length manuscript on Whittaker Chambers and his role in the Alger Hiss case, which is included in this collection.

Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley. Papers, 1890-1964. 8 linear feet. Patrons must use microfilm. Flynn was a leading Irish-American Communist, socialist, feminist, labor organizer, orator, and campaigner for civil liberties. Raised by socialist and nationalist parents, she gave her first speech at the age of fifteen. She became an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World and while aiding the Western Federation of Miners was briefly married to Jack Jones, the father of her son Fred, born in 1910. During her involvement in the Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike of 1912 she met and fell in love with Carlo Tresca, with whom she lived for the next twelve years. In 1917 she founded and chaired the International Liberty Defense League, later the Workers Liberty Defense Union until 1924 when the International Labor Defense was formed, and was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). After the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927 Flynn fell seriously ill and spent nine years in Oregon where she lived with feminist Dr. Marie Equi. In 1936 Flynn returned to New York and joined the Communist Party, quickly becoming a member of its Central Committee, and later its Political Bureau, and finally Chair, 1961-1964. During these years she wrote a bi-weekly column "Life of the Party" for the Daily Worker, ran for political office, was expelled from the ACLU in 1940 for her Communist Party membership, and served 28 months in prison under the Smith Act (her prison memoir was published as The Alderson Story, listed in Memoirs & Autobiographies). She died in Moscow in September, 1964. See also the Flynn Nonprint Collection.

Gardner, Virginia. Papers, 1922-1990. 10 linear feet. Gardner was a member of the Communist Party from 1937 to 1962. She was a journalist by profession and an active member of the Newspaper Guild while working for the Chicago Tribune from 1937 until 1940, when she was fired for union activities. She later wrote for Masses and Mainstream, the People's World and the Daily Worker. Gardner was the author of two books, The Rosenberg Story (New York: Masses and Mainstream, 1954), and Friend and Lover (New York: Horizon Press, 1982), a biography of Louise Bryant. She also wrote an unpublished autobiography, which is included in this collection. Her papers provide information on almost all aspects of both her public and private life, including problems she encountered as a woman and as a single mother.

Hesse, Star D. Papers, 1976-1991. 6.25 linear feet. In the mid-1970s, flight attendants at Pan American Airlines became dissatisfied with both their working conditions and their representation by the Transport Workers Union of America. In 1976, the flight attendants voted to decertify the TWU and form a new union, the Independent Union of Flight Attendants. Star Hesse, a flight attendant, got involved with the new union in the late-1970s and became a section chairperson, negotiating contracts for the IUFA. The IUFA dissolved when Pan American folded in 1991. Hesse's papers cover the decertification of the TWU and the establishment and activities of the IUFA. On flight attendant activism, see also the Stewardesses For Women's Rights and Transport Workers Union of America Collections above.

Jonas, Gilbert. Papers, 1962-1969. 1.9 linear feet. Jonas began his work in public relations in 1955 in New York City. His association with AFSCME grew out of his relationship with Jerry Wurf, District Council 37's Executive Director at the time (Wurf later became International President of AFSCME from 1964-1981). Jonas's public relations firm, which began working for DC 37 in 1962, prepared and placed press releases for the union in local and national media outlets. Jonas's firm again worked for Wurf in 1968-69, to assist with the development of AFSCME District Council 50. Jonas's work with DC 50 pertained to the State Mental Hospital Workers, who held a strike in November of 1968.

Kopelov, Connie. Papers, 1974-1987. 1 linear foot. Connie Kopelov was born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. In 1955, Kopelov moved to New York City where she worked on projects for the New York City Freedom Agenda and the Education Department of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. From 1977-1979, Kopelov headed the education program of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, 1199. Kopelov's involvement with working women's issues dates back to 1972 as a member of the New York Trade Union Women's Seminar, originated by Barbara Wertheimer at Cornell's New York City labor program. In 1974, Kopelov was involved in the founding of the national Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), and was elected Vice-President of CLUW's New City Chapter in 1975. In the years since, Kopelov has been engaged in feminist labor activism and producing scholarship on women's labor history, and US working-class history. On CLUW, especially its New York City chapter, see also Betsy Wade Papers below.

Kosut, Riki. Scrapbook, 1941-1942. .25 linear feet. In 1941 and 1942, Local 16 of the United Office and Professional Workers of America held a beauty contest, "Miss Steno Queen." Riki Englander was the public relations consultant for these events. The scrapbook contains press releases, newspaper clippings, photographs, and invitations for the "Miss Steno Queen" contests of 1941 and 1942.

Layzer, Judith. Papers, 1969-1986. 2 linear feet. Judith Layzer, an activist for women in New York City government, was a member of Women in City Government and founder and president of the Committee for Women in Nontraditional Jobs. Women in City Government United consisted of employees of New York city government, primarily from the Mayor's Office, when John V. Lindsay was Mayor. Through petitions and meetings with mayoral officials, Women in City Government United pressed for more appointments of women to higher positions and improved health, pension, and maternity insurance benefits for all women employees. (This collection contains only a portion of the papers of this organization). The Committee for Women in Nontraditional Jobs, Inc., formed in 1976, was composed of officials, primarily but not exclusively women, from a broad spectrum of organizations, private and public. The Committee also had a board of directors comprised of knowledgeable feminists from different areas, including the law, union leadership, and academia. Through forums, conferences, radio interviews, video cable casts, and reports, the Committee exposed and challenged employer discrimination against women aspiring to nontraditional blue-collar work. Records for the Committee are fully assembled in these papers.

Schneiderman, Rose. Papers, 1882-1972. 2 linear feet. Patrons must use microfilm copy, except for series 5 (Pauline Newman letters), which is not filmed. Schneiderman was a labor organizer, socialist, suffragist, campaigner for protective legislation for women, and leader of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL). Born of working-class Jewish parents in Russian Poland in 1882, she emigrated to the United States in 1890 and entered the work force at age 13. In 1903 she organized her fellow cap workers, creating Local 23 of the United Cloth, Hat & Cap Makers of North America. She joined the Socialist Party and the WTUL in 1905, quickly becoming a leader in the WTUL as fulltime organizer on New York's Lower East Side and an executive board member. Schneiderman played a key role in the New York City garment workers upsurge of 1909-14 and was founder and president of Local 62, ILGWU Dry Goods Workers. After losing her bid for the presidency of the NY WTUL, she became a national organizer briefly for the ILGWU, but returned to the WTUL in 1916, dissatisfied with the place of women in the garment union. She became head of the NY WTUL in 1918, and later the national WTUL, holding both posts throughout the remainder of the WTUL's existence. After World War I her focus shifted to legislative reform and she grew close to the Democratic party and particularly to Eleanor Roosevelt. Schneiderman served on the National Recovery Administration's labor advisory board in 1934, and as Secretary of the NY State Department of Labor from 1933 to '44. This small collection provides uneven and incomplete documentation of Schneiderman's life and activity. Of most value are the correspondence in series one and five, the bulk from years before WWI and covering personal and family matters, trade unions and WTUL affairs, suffrage and socialism. See also the Schneiderman Photographic Collection.

Stern, Charlotte Todes. Papers, 1927-1956. 10 linear in. Charlotte Stern was a trade unionist and educational director of the Hotel and Club Employees Union, Local 6, AFL. The union appointed her to serve on the executive board of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Her papers include minutes of the Joint Board, clippings, trial briefs and photographs, and deal principally with the board's refusal in 1945 to turn over to HUAC the records of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. A small amount of material pertains to Stern's work as organizing secretary of Workers' Health Bureau, Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Union, Local 560, and AFL and Hotel and Club Employees Union 6, AFL.

Stokes, Rose Pastor. Papers, 1905-1933. 2.5 linear feet (6 boxes). Also available on microfilm. Rose Pastor Stokes was a controversial and widely published socialist and communist. Born in Russian Poland in 1879, Stokes immigrated in 1882 to England and in 1890 to the United States where she worked in a cigar factory. In 1903 she became an assistant to the editor of the Jewish Daily News in New York. In 1905 she married James Graham Phelps Stokes, a wealthy socialist and reformer. In 1918 she was sentenced to ten years in prison under the Espionage Act but Stokes successfully appealed the conviction. During this period she became a member of the Communist Party and in 1922 was an American delegate to the Fourth Congress of the Communist International in Moscow. In 1925 she and James were divorced and two years later she married Jerome Isaac Romaine. She died in 1933 of cancer. Her papers include, among other topics, documentation of her participation in a 1912 Hotel and Waiters Strike, material on birth control, and voluminous correspondence.

Wade, Betsy. Papers, 1972-1982. 1974-1981 (bulk). 6 linear inches (1 box). Restrictions on access; consult with Wagner Archivist. Betsy Wade, a member (and in 1978, President) of Newspaper Guild Local 3, was a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). This collection consists of correspondence, conference materials, bylaws, resolutions, constitutions, newsletters, clippings, and campaign flyers. The material documents the founding of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and the growth of its New York Chapter, originally the New York Women's Trade Union Conference. On CLUW, especially its New York City chapter, see also Connie Kopelov Papers above.

Weiner, Jon. Research files of Jon Weiner relating to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sears, Roebuck and Company, 1984-1986. 1 linear foot. In 1979 the EEOC filed an antidiscrimination action against Sears, Roebuck and Company. The complaint, covering patterns of sex discrimination from 1973 to 1980, was the last major corporate sex bias case to be litigated by the Commission, and the only one not to be settled out of court. Central to Sears' defense was the expert testimony of Rosalind Rosenberg, a professor of women's history at Barnard College. To counter her statements that women eschewed the high-commission sales jobs at issue in the case, the EEOC called on Alice Kessler-Harris, a professor of women's and labor history at Hofstra University. Their opposing testimonies sparked vigorous debate among feminist historians and others. In January, 1986, Sears Roebuck won a decisive victory in the case. The documents in this collection are the research files of Jon Weiner, for his article "Women's History on Trial," The Nation, September 7, 1985. Aside from a few press clippings (1984-86), this collection consists of legal records from 1985 and 1986, when the controversy between Rosenberg and Kessler-Harris came to the fore of the trial.

Young, Ruth. Papers, 1941-1991. .25 linear feet. Ruth Young (1916-1986), the nation's highest-ranking female labor union official in the 1940s, grew up in Chicago, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. After high school, she worked in a number of factories and almost immediately became a union activist. She became active in the Communist-led Trade Union Unity League, and then in the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE-CIO). By 1938, she was on the UE's full-time staff, a staunch advocate of organizing women and bringing them into union activity. She organized a large UE women's conference in 1941, and wrote a weekly column in the UE News. After the United States entered World War II, Young became a member of the UE's highest executive body, the International Executive Board. Throughout much of the 1940s, Young was a member of the Communist Party, like many UE leaders. She left both the Party and the UE in 1950, but remained active in local community activities in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967 she launched a "second career" as a college administrator. In the 1980s, she gave public lectures on women's work and women's labor history. The Ruth Young Papers were collected by sociologist Ruth Milkman. They consist of an interview by Milkman and Meredith Tax with Young (8/29/85); Ruth Young's FBI files obtained by Milkman; and a folder of newspaper clippings from the 1940s and the 1980s.

O'Hare, Kate Richards, 1877-1948. Papers, 1919-20. Andover, MA: New England Document Conservation Center, 1978. 1 microfilm reel. Reproduction of original papers held by the Arthur & Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass.

Papers of Rose Pastor Stokes. Guide to the Microfilm, compiled by Linda Wrigley. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, Sterling Memorial Library, Manuscripts and Archives, 1970. Guide accompanies microfilmed papers on Tamiment Reels R3298-R3304.

Papers of the Women's Trade Union League and its Principal Leaders. Edward T. James, editor; assistant editors Robin Miller Jacoby, Nancy Schrom Dye. Woodbridge, Conn.: Published for the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College by Research Publications, 1981. 131 microfilm reels plus guide.

Records of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Bethesda, MD: University Publications of America, 1989. 61 microfilm reels. Series: Research collections in labor studies; The C.I.O. and industrial unionism in America; Martin P. Catherwood Library, Labor-Management Document Center, Cornell University. Accompanied by printed reel guide compiled by David H. Werning.

Records of the National Women's Trade Union of America: 1903-1950. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service, 1976. 25 microfilm reels. Guide to the collection available on the first reel.