International Ladies Garment Workers' Union San Francisco Joint Board records, part 1
Scope and Contents
Comprised of correspondence, minutes, wage information and financial records of the union during the 1930s and 1940s. 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.
Dates
- 1931-1947
Availability
Collection is open for research.
Administrative History
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.
Extent
2.5 Cubic Feet (2 cartons)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Correspondence, minutes, wage information, union bulletins and financial records, including arbitration reports and investigations of suspected employer violations and union official fraud. Also included are a small sampling of lists of job titles and wage rates and a number of wage adjustment petitions of individual employees.
Acquisition Information
These records are from the San Francisco ILGWU collection transferred to the Labor Archives under the direction of Frank Monti. This is box 17 of a larger record group on deposit at Cornell University's, Martin P. Catherwood Library.
Processing Information
Processed with Guide Digital guide needs editing to include box/folder list.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by JoAnne Firestone in 1987.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union San Francisco Joint Board records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by JoAnne Firestone, revised by Marissa Friedman.
- Date
- 1987, revised 2020.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in: English.
Repository Details
Part of the Labor Archives and Research Center Repository
San Francisco State University
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco 94132-1722 USA
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu