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The Kheel Center ILGWU Collection

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Collection Guides

International Affairs

This guide provides an overview of archival collections at the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives that relate to the work of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) in international affairs and the international labor movement. It also provides general bibliographies on these subjects. Together, these resources introduce researchers to several promising starting points for study of these and related topics.

Over the course of the twentieth century, organized labor in the United States exerted a considerable force in the unfolding of world events. As is by now well-documented, the immigrant founders of the ILGWU-steeped in strong traditions of trade unionism and socialism, as well as political persecution in their homelands in Europe-kept a watchful eye on political and social changes there, even as they, union members, and staff worked on improving conditions in the United States in the early twentieth century. For nearly a century, the leadership of the ILGWU sometimes sought to influence the United States' political, economic, and military engagements overseas, and the union built and maintained strong relationships with people and organizations outside of the United States.

There exists a considerable body of research on the ILGWU's work in international affairs, whether defined as taking positions on the United States government's policies or participating in the international labor movement. Nevertheless, this guide focuses on archival collections from the 1930s to the 1960s. The reasons for this are three. The primary reason is that this was not only a period of rapid and significant change in and of itself; it is also key for understanding the period that followed. The second and third reasons are closely related: Much existing work on the ILGWU's international connections address its first thirty years, and the comparative gap in the literature on the ILGWU's second thirty years would benefit from scholarly attention. The records of the ILGWU and ILGWU-related collections at the Kheel Center and other archival repositories-reviewed by earlier scholars, some of whose works are included in this guide's bibliography-suggest the promising thickness of documentation of potential interest to researchers.

Opinions differ on the nature and consequences of the role played by the International, and more generally, American organized labor, but several elements seem to be generally accepted. The ILGWU was in early and active opposition to the rise of fascism in Europe, and this opposition was manifest in mass rallies and demonstrations in the United States, collaboration with such organizations as the Jewish Labor Committee and the Italian-American Labor Council to arrange for the immigration of individuals and their families to the United States, and union initiatives to provide material support to those remaining in post-war Europe.

While several factors may account for the divergent analyses of the post-war period, perhaps what most fundamentally divides scholars are two questions: What were American organized labor's positions on United States' foreign policy? And what was the role of American labor federations in the international labor movement?

Some scholars argue that many labor unions in the United States, the ILGWU among them, were not so ideologically consistent or constant over time. Rather, the ILGWU's radical traditions had become muted and opportunistic by mid-century, such that the union came to embrace a vehement anticommunism that was palatable to the United States government. Other scholars contend that the ILGWU's objective was to establish and strengthen free and democratic trade unionism in Europe and Latin America and, after World War II, in decolonizing and post-colonial Asia and Africa. This objective was informed by the belief that only in a democratic society could trade unions be truly independent-independent of governments, companies, political parties, religious institutions, and organized crime-and thus free to work in the membership's own best interests.

At the Kheel Center, the records of the ILGWU document the operations of the union from 1900 to 1995. Documentation of the ILGWU's influence and work in international relations is considerable and, though some of it may be found in the most obvious of places-the David Dubinsky correspondence, the International Relations Department records, or the various editions of Justice-some of it may be found in everyday operational records of local unions and joint boards. These records not only illustrate the work that the ILGWU conducted independently and with the AFL and later the AFL-CIO; they also show the work of individual members and officers working with closely related organizations, such as the Jewish Labor Committee and the Italian-American Labor Council. Additionally, the work of the ILGWU and other unions in the United States is reflected in the records and collected documents of other organizations held at the Kheel Center. These include the papers of Serafino Romualdo, the collected documents of John P. Windmuller, and records of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and World Federation of Labor.

Rich collections at other repositories certainly will be of interest to researchers. New York University's Tamiment Library houses records of the Jewish Labor Committee and the Italian-American Labor Council. The George Meany Memorial Archive maintains records of the AFL's Free Trade Union Committee, and the many projects of the AFL-CIO's International Affairs Department covering the period of this guide and beyond, including the Asian American Free Labor Institute, African American Labor Center, American Institute for Free Labor Development, and the Free Trade Union Institute.

Archival Collections at the Kheel Center

ILGWU Records, 1884-2006, bulk 1923-1995

ILGWU. Convention publications, 1904-1995.
  • 5780/193 PUBS
  • This collection consists of reports and proceedings of the ILGWU's conventions from 1904 to 1995. Reports from the Committee on International Affairs or Department of International Affairs, special reports, or resolutions and discussions thereof provide information on the ILGWU's positions and preoccupations appertaining to international affairs, as well as documentation of unions, organizations, and relief societies that received funding from the ILGWU.
ILGWU. General Executive Board.
  • 5780/016 and 5780/016 mf
  • This collection consists of reports to and meeting minutes of the General Executive Board. Of special interest are the reports of the International Relations Department.
ILGWU. Publications.
  • 5780 PUBS
  • This collection consists of publications of the International, departments and institutions, regional departments, district councils, local unions, and individual members and officers. The official organ of the ILGWU from 1919 to 1995, Justice and its different language editions, report on the international projects of the union, as well as reveal the ILGWU's stands on international affairs. Publications by departments, institutions and other elements of the ILGWU also document how the projects and views of the union developed and changed over time.
ILGWU. David Dubinsky correspondence, 1932-1966.
  • 5780/002
  • As president of the ILGWU from 1932 to 1966, David Dubinsky was a formidable and influential figure in organized labor in the United States and internationally. [Before Nazism was on the radar of others] Under his leadership, the ILGWU organized meetings and groups against fascism and Nazism, financial support of allied forces in World War II through bond programs and direct giving, as well as for the Polish underground. Dubinsky's anti-communism and support for FDR are well-documented, of course, as is his work as treasurer of the Jewish Labor Committee, which sought asylum for refugees in the United States and support for displaced persons, and his service as treasurer of the Trade Union Red Cross, also known as Labor's Red Cross, for Spain during that country's civil war.
  • The David Dubinsky papers contain subject files, speeches and statements, and personal correspondence appertaining to the ILGWU's interests in international affairs between 1932 and 1966, as well as to Dubinsky's work's work on the Jewish Labor Committee and the Trade Union Red Cross. Dubinsky's subject files include correspondence and other materials relating to such organizations as the National Refugee Service, the ILGWU War Relief Fund, World Federation of Trade Union, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), International Textile & Garment Workers' Federation (ITGWF), International Clothing Workers' Federation (ICWF), International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), and the International Labor Office.
  • Extensive subject files on World War II document the ILGWU's and Dubinsky's work during this period, as does correspondence with and reports with several key individuals in negotiating the ILGWU's interests abroad-namely Luigi Antonini, Charles Kreindler, and Jay Lovestone. Also, work of the AFL and CIO throughout this period is documented in Dubinsky's records on its Committee on Inter-American Affairs, Center for Inter-American Relations, Committee on ICFTU Solidarity Fund, Committee on International Labor Relations. Finally, an index to speeches and statements offer a succinct resume of the topics of that Dubinksy addressed during his tenure as president of the ILGWU.
ILGWU. Charles Zimmerman papers, 1919-1958.
  • 5780/014
  • Charles Zimmerman was one of the ILGWU's active and visible participant in international affairs. His papers span the period during which Zimmerman returned to the ILGWU, worked on the executive board and manager-secretary of Local 22, was elected to the General Executive Board, and elected general manager of the Dress Joint Board. Also during this period, Zimmerman travelled through Poland, Sweden, and Norway on behalf of the Jewish Labor Committee, and served as delegate to a meeting of the Textiles Committee of the International Labour Organization.
  • Zimmerman's papers includes several files entitled "Foreign Correspondence," which include correspondence and other materials relating to workers' issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Also included in Zimmerman's papers is some correspondence with Maida Springer, an important player in the ILGWU's and later the AFL-CIO's activities internationally, as well as some materials relating to Zimmerman's work with the ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training), the Labor Advisory Committee on Puerto Rican Affairs, and the Jewish Labor Committee. Zimmerman also maintained files on his trips abroad, including the aforementioned trip on behalf of the Jewish Labor Committee. Researchers may also find Zimmerman's speeches, statements, and articles of interest, as well as newspaper clippings from his 1945 travels.
ILGWU. Joint Board Dress and Waistmakers' Union of Greater New York. Managers' correspondence, 1909-1978.
  • 5780/047
  • This collection of the Joint Board Dress and Waistmakers' Union of Greater New York contains the correspondence of Julius Hochman, manager of the joint board, and his successor, Charles Zimmerman. Hochman held various positions with the ILGWU over the years-including organizer, manager of the New York Dress Joint Board and the Joint Board Dress and Waistmakers' Union of Greater New York, and chairman of the International's Education Committee. He also served as a vice-president of the Jewish Labor Committee and a director of the ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training).
  • While the managers' correspondence primarily documents the everyday operation of the joint board, this collection also reflect the activities of Hochman and Zimmerman in international affairs, in their capacities with the ILGWU and otherwise. Correspondence, reports, and clippings relating to a number of organizations are contained in this collection: Institute of International Labor Research, Inc., Interamerican Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Federation (ITLGWF), International Labor Affairs, International Labor Organization, International Rescue Committee, International Textile, Garment & Leather Workers Federation, and the Jewish Labor Committee. In addition to this material, researchers may find relevant information in the articles and speeches of Hochman and Zimmerman.
ILGWU. International Relations Department records, 1968-1995.
  • 5780/062
  • The materials in this collection have an emphasis on labor issues in the developing world. There is correspondence with leaders of clothing and textile workers' unions in India, Japan, Turkey, Kenya, Latin America, Namibia, South Korea, among other countries. Other items concern conventions and conferences of the ILGWU that emphasized international issues, visits from foreign union leaders to the ILGWU, and visits of ILGWU leaders to foreign countries. There are also some materials about garment workers' unions in Western Europe. Topics addressed include working conditions, human rights, economic, political, and social conditions in developing countries, and requests for aid to assist foreign unions.
  • Individuals represented in the collection include Irving Brown, Sol Chaikin; Jay Lovestone, George Meany, Saby Nehama, Lazare Teper, and Charles S. Zimmerman. Organizations include the AFL-CIO and its International Affairs Department; Gewerkschaft Textil-Bekleidung; the Interamerican Textile, Leather and Garment Workers' Federation; the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation and its Asian Regional Organization; the Korean National Textile Workers Union; the Namibian Trade Union Council; the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO); the Tailors and Garment Workers Union (Great Britain); the Tailors and Textile Workers' Union (Kenya); the Textile, Knitting, and Clothing Workers Union of Turkey; the Textile Labour Association (India); the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs; and Zensen Domei (Japan).
ILGWU. International Relations Department publications, 1972-2000.
  • 5780/062 PUBS
  • This collection consists of over 1,000 publications collected by the International Relations Department. These publications include newsletters, magazines, and reports from a variety of international labor organizations, including the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (KFAT), the Asian-American Free Labor Institute, and the International confederation of Free Trade Unions, among others.
ILGWU. Local 89. Luigi Antonini correspondence, 1919-1968.
  • 5780/023
  • Luigi Antonini joined the ILGWU in 1913, and was elected to the executive board of Local 25 the following year. A skilled organizer and leader, he was voted a vice president of the ILGWU in 1925, and became First Vice-President in 1934, a position he held for over thirty years. Antonini was a founding member of the Anti-Fascist Alliance and president of the Italian-American Labor Council. He was also chairman of the American Labor Party and was one of the founders of the Liberal Party of New York. He served on a number of boards and advisory commissions, public and private, during World War II. Antonini remained active in union and political matters until his death in 1968.
  • The correspondence documents many of Antonini's most significant contributions to the ILGWU, the post-war Italian labor movement, and politics in New York State and the U.S. Included in the collection are materials relating to Antonini's role in the ILGWU, especially in union administrative matters; documentation of his involvement in building a free labor movement in post-war Italy; items dealing with his activities in the American Labor Party and the Liberal Party of New York; and items that highlight his role in anti-fascist organizations before and during the Second World War.
  • Individuals and organizations represented in the collection include: August Bellanca; David Dubinsky; Fannia Cohn; Giuseppe Faravelli; John F. Kennedy; Fiorello LaGuardia; Jay Lovestone; Guiseppe Modigliani; Franklin Roosevelt; Giuseppe Saragat; Norman Thomas; Harry S. Truman; Gus Tyler; Robert F. Wagner, Jr.; locals and joint boards of the ILGWU; the AFL-CIO; the Confederazione italiana sindacati lavoratori; the Italian-American Labor Council; the Textile Workers' Union of America; Unity House (the ILGWU workers' resort); and the Women's Trade Union League.
  • Researchers should also consult Local 89 records (5780/024), Local 89 minutes (5780/064), and Local 89 photos (5780/024P).
ILGWU. Local 155 records, 1933-1995.
  • 5780/054 and 5780/129
  • Local union 155 of the ILGWU, also known as the Knitgoods Workers' Union, was chartered in 1933 and based in New York City.
  • These items document the activities and concerns of the Local's leadership from the depression years through the late 1960s. In addition to routine Local administrative matters, the materials cover a wide variety of topics, including anti-Semitism, civil rights issues, health and retirement benefits, the women's clothing industry, New York City elections, political activities of the Local, relations with other unions, forced labor in the Soviet Union, the Spanish Civil War, strikes, and union elections.
  • Individual correspondents represented in the collection include Angela Balabanoff, Fred Beal, B.J. Bialostotzky, David Dubinsky, Melech Epstein, Fiorello LaGuardia, Elias Lieberman, Jay Lovestone, Norman Thomas, and Carlo Tresca. Organizations include Free Trade Union Committee, International Indemnity Committee, Italian-American Labor Council, the Jewish Labor Committee, among others.

ILGWU Related Collections

Morris Hillquit papers, 1886-1947. Microfilm.
  • 5430mf
  • The original Morris Hillquit Papers are held at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The following is an abridged version of the Wisconsin Historical Society's description.
  • Morris Hillquit is considered by some to have been the foremost spokesman and theoretician of the Socialist Party of America from its founding in 1901 until his death in 1933. As a member of the United Hebrew Trades, Hillquit helped to organize garment workers in New York City while obtaining an LL.B. from New York Law School in 1893. Hillquit was a member of the negotiating committee which settled the 1910 New York Cloakmakers' Strike which led to the Protocol of Peace, establishing machinery to conciliate labor disputes in the garment industry. Hillquit served as general counsel for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union from 1913 to 1933 and was a leader in the Socialist Party from 1901 until his death in 1933.
  • Includes materials pertaining to the following broad subjects: socialist unity, growth and conflict, 1900-1913; the war years, 1914-1919; Bolshevism and red-baiting, 1918-1921; fusion politics, 1922-1924; reconstruction and decline of the Socialist Party, 1925-1933; and trade unionism, 1909-1933.
  • After 1924, the collection is largely concerned with internal Party affairs. Correspondence with Bertha Hale White, George C. Kirkpatrick, and Eugene V. Debs discuss the Party's economic difficulties. Also included are minutes of the National Executive Committee, reports of the national secretaries and correspondence with Julius Gerber, James Oneal and Nathan Fine discussing activities of the New York local.
  • Trade union materials (1909-1933) document Hillquit's involvement with the New York City Shirtwaist Makers' Strike (1909-1910), the Protocol of Peace negotiations, activities as counsel for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Hillquit's defense of union leaders charged with murder in connection with the 1910 Cloakmakers' Strike, his service on a nonpartisan Council of Conciliation to negotiate a settlement in the cloakmaking industry (1915), and his involvement in the ILGWU's internal struggles with communist factions and the New York Joint Board of Cloak Makers' Unions.
Jay Lovestone papers, 1946-1983.
  • 6036/028
  • In addition to serving as the first director of the ILGWU's International Relations Department, Jay Lovestone worked with the Free Trade Union Committee, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. From 1963 to 1974, Lovestone served as the Director of the AFL-CIO's Department of International Affairs.
  • This collection consists of Jay Lovestone's correspondence, subject files, speeches, reports and other writings, and personal material. Also included are financial records, newspaper clippings, reports, and other printed material. Spanning Lovestone's work as the Director of the ILGWU's International Relations Department, as well as Director of the AFL-CIO's Department of International Affairs, these papers include correspondence with individuals and organizations with considerable interest in the growth of trade unionism abroad. Correspondents include important ILGWU leaders such as Sol Chaikin, David Dubinsy, Roy Godson, Mark Staar, Louis Stulberg, and Charles Zimmerman, and others, including Lane Kirkland, George Meany, Walter Reuther, Bayard Rustin, and Phillip Taft. Lovestone's subject files, or "Foreign Files," contain material on dozens of countries, as do his collection of newspaper and magazine articles and reports.
Lovestone, Jay. Interview by E. Finn.
  • 6036/023
  • In addition to serving as the first director of the ILGWU's International Relations Department, Jay Lovestone worked with the Free Trade Union Committee, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. From 1963 to 1974, Lovestone served as the Director of the AFL-CIO's Department of International Affairs.
  • This collection consists of a transcript and audiotape recording of an interview with Jay Lovestone, conducted by E. Finn in 1978. The interview focuses on Lovestone's views on, as well as his work relating to, trade unionism in Africa and Latin America.
Romualdi, Serafino. Papers, 1936-1967, bulk 1946-1966. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Free Trade Union Committee).
  • 5459
  • In 1928, Romualdi was editorial writer for the Italian Language Daily trade union Newspaper "Il Mundo", jointly owned by the Italian locals of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. In 1933, be joined the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union as a member of the Editorial and Publicity Departments.
  • In July 1941, Romualdi went to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, where as a representative of the Free Italy Committee he directed a campaign to enlist the Italian population in those countries to the side of the Allies. After Pearl Harbor, he joined the staff of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Nelson Rockefeller. Romualdi founded the Italian-American Committee for Democratic Education with headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay. He also worked closely with the Committee for the Political Defense of the Continent, whose main objective was to counteract the activities of the Nazi and Fascist agents.
  • In 1943, Romualdi returned to Washington where where he worked in the labor division of the Coordinator's office, then headed by John Herling. He joined the Office of Strategic Services in May 1944, where he remained until April 1945, when he was assigned to make a survey of the effects of United States policy in Europe on the large European population in South America.
  • Romualdi resumed his work with the ILGWU in the fall of 1945, and was assigned by the American Federation of Labor to establish contacts with Latin American Labor with the view of promoting closer cooperation between the democratic trade unions of the two continents. In this capacity, he toured Central and South America several times; was a member of the AFL labor delegation that visited Argentina in January 1947 and was one of the AFL delegates to the conference at Lima, Peru (in January 1948) at which the Inter-American Confederation of Workers was organized. Later, in 1951, he played a leading role in the organizing the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT), of which he became Assistant Secretary and editor of its Inter-American Labor Bulletin.
  • In March 1948, Romualdi was appointed full time Latin American representative of the AFL. He was a member of the Joint AFL-CIO Commission that investigated labor conditions in the Central Zone in January 1949, and was a member of the US delegation to the conventions of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) held in Milan, in 1951; Vienna in (1955) and Tunis in 1957.
  • Romualdi attended ILO conferences either as a US labor delegate or Labor advisor: in Mexico City and Montreal in 1946; San Francisco in 1948; Montevideo in 1960 and Buenos Aires in 1961. In August 1957 he attended the Inter-American Economic Conference held in Buenos Aires as a labor advisor to the US delegation. He attended, also as an advisor, the Punta del Este Conference in August 1961, at which the Alliance for Progress was launched. Romualdi also attended various presidential inaugurations of Latin American countries, either as a representative or a personal guest.
  • After the 1955 merger of the AFL and the CIO, Romualdi was named Inter-American Representative of the new organization and Executive Secretary of the AFL-CIO Inter-American Affairs Committee. Shortly after the establishment of the American Institute for Free Labor Development in 1961, in which he played a leading role, Romualdi became its Executive Director. The institute, a non-profit organization supported by labor, business and government, trained selected young leaders from Latin American and Caribbean nations in trade union fundamentals, the democratic process, defense tactics against infiltration by totalitarians or racketeers and the role of unions in the community.
  • In September 1965, be retired from his posts with the AFL-CIO and the AIFLD to undertake consulting work and to complete his memoirs, entitled Presidents and Peons, which were published in 1967 by Funk and Wagnalls. Mr. Romualdi was married to the former Miriam Blecher Friedman. Each had a son by a previous marriage. Serafino Romualdi died in November 1967.
  • This collection consists chiefly of Romualdi's correspondence with political and labor figures from Latin America, North America and Italy. Consists primarily of correspondence between Romualdi as Latin American representatitve of the AFL-CIO and various Latin American, Italian and America labor and political figure. Romualdi's international interests and activities focused on the labor movements in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Includes correspondence with organizations and individuals in Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as clippings, reports, etc. concerning these countries; correspondence concerning Italian labor and politics and Italian emigration to Latin America; correspondence of Jay Lovestone, George Meany, Robert Alexander, Matthew Woll, Benjamin Stephansky, Arturo J'auregui, and Nelson A. Rockefeller regarding U.S. involvement in Latin America's politics and labor movement; correspondence relating to the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), Vice-President Richard M. Nixon's Latin American trip (1958), and a speech by Meany entitled "Inter-American Trade Unionism"; correspondence with officers of international labor organizations; clippings and manuscripts, newspaper and trade-union articles written by and about Romualdi; correspondence regarding Romualdi's post-retirement activities as a labor consultant for U.S. enterprises, the publication of his memoirs, Presidents and Peons, and lecture work; manuscripts of Romualdi's lectures (published and unpublished) on inter-American labor-management relations and politics, AFL-CIO activities, and trade-union history; manuscript copies and drafts of Romualdi's memoirs, published as Presidents and Peons by Funk and Wagnalls, 1967; correspondence of Richard M. Nixon on Latin American labor relations; itineraries and clippings concerning Nixon's Latin American tours; correspondence of Jay Lovestone, Richard J. Alexander and J'auregui on Free Trade Union Committee (1951-1954); letters regarding AFL-CIO tours to Latin America (1950, 1956, and 1958); and condolence letters to Mimi Romualdi on Romualdi's death (1967) and several portraits and photographs of Romualdi.
Springer Kemp, Maida. Oral History Interview.
  • 6036/024
  • Having joined the Local Union 22 in 1932, Maida Springer Kemp held various positions within that local as well as in Local 132. Springer was a representative of the American Federation of Labor abroad in 1945 and again in 1951, and worked on issues relating to trade unionism in Africa for many years afterwards.
  • This collection consists of a transcript of an interview with Maida Springer Kemp, conducted by Elizabeth Balanoff in 1977. The interview was part of The 20th Century Trade Union Woman: Vehicle for Social Change Oral History Project, in cooperation with The Black Woman Oral History Project, the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College.
Woll, Matthew. Papers, 1914-1956.
  • 5262
  • Matthew Woll was born in Luxembourg on January 25, 1860. He moved to Chicago with his parents when he was eleven years old.
  • In 1906, two years after getting his law degree from Lake Forest University College of Law, Mr. Woll was elected President of the Photo Engravers Union. He served in this capacity until 1929; he then became Vice President of the Photo Engravers and held this position until his death on June 1, 1956.
  • In 1919 he was elected eighth Vice President of the AFL He worked closely with Samuel Gompers and many observers of the labor movement were surprised when he was not elected to succeed Mr. Gompers as president of the AFL. When the AFL and CIO merged in 1955, he became the first Vice President of the AFL-CIO.
  • One of his contributions to the labor movement was the Union Labor Life Insurance Co. He was among the first to recognize the need for insurance protection for trade union members. He was prominent in organizing the company and became its first president in 1927. His leadership helped the company to develop into a respected organization in the insurance field.
  • He served on many labor, civic, political, and cultural committees, including the War Labor Board - World War I, National War Labor Board - World War II, Chairman of the AFL International Relations Committee, Editor of the Photo Engravers' journal, National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, N.Y.S. Insurance Advisory Board and Director of Sportsmanship Brotherhood. He also wrote one book entitled Labor, Industry and Government.
  • This collection consists of newspaper clippings about the activities of Matthew Woll from 1914 until his death in 1956.

Additional Related Collections

In addition to the ILGWU Records and the ILGWU-related collections noted above, the Kheel Center maintains records the document the work of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Free Trade Union Committee, American Institute for Free Labor Development, World Confederation of Labor, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, World Federation of Trade Unions. Researchers may also consult the records of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.

Archives Foreign File.
  • 5582
  • The Archives Foreign File is a collection of printed ephemeral documents, issued primarily by foreign and international trade unions and labor organizations. All continents are represented, though the majority of materials is of European origin. Topics covered in this collection include union organizing, unemployment, working conditions, the working class, the labor movement, industrial relations, worker education, international trade unionism, works councils, automation, economic conditions and trends, labor markets, foreign relations, and political movements, including fascism, socialism, and communism. Included in this collection are materials on the World Confederation of Labor and the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Archives Union File.
  • 6046
  • The Archives Union File is a collection of publications of United States labor unions. Included is information on the American Institute for Free Labor Development.
Adolph Germer Papers, 1945-1947.
  • 5256
  • Mr. Germer was born in Welan, Germany In 1881 and came to the United States in 1888. His father was a miner, and Adolph went to work in the coal mines of Staunton, Illinois, when he was eleven years old. He joined the United Mine Workers of America in 1894 and held various offices; among them the United Mine Workers representative to the World Miners Congress in Amsterdam in 1912. He participated in the Colorado strike in 1913.
  • He joined the Socialist Party in 1900, and was its national secretary from 1916 to 1919. He was arrested, tried and convicted of subversion in the famous trial of 1918. With Eugene V. Debs and Victor L. Berger he wrote the Socialist Party report on the West Virginia Coal Strike in 1913.
  • In 1933 he joined the Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers and became an international organizer He participated in the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and was on its staff as an organizer. He was its delegate to the World Federation of Trade Unions meeting in Prague in 1947.
  • This collection consists of the papers Adolph Germer collected on his trip to the W.F.T.U. meeting and his membersip of the W.F.T.U. Committee for German Affairs.
  • The Kheel Center also holds a microfilm copy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin's Adolph Germer papers. See: Adolph Germer papers (5809mf).
Lewis Levitzki Lorwin papers, 1952-1962.
  • 5152
  • Lewis Lorwin was an economist and labor historian, who over the course of his career, worked as economic advisor to the International Labor Office, the New York State Labor Department,0020the National Resources Planning Board, and the Foreign Economic Administration. He also held positions at the Brookings Institution and the Office of International Trade of the Department of Commerce.
  • The Lewis Levitzki Lorwin papers consists primarily of records documenting the work of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). This includes reports of the Executive Board and committees, resolutions, official statements, financial reports, and meeting minutes. Also included in this collection are subject research files and publications, including ICFTU Information Bulletin and materials on the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Lorwin, Val, Collector. International Confederation of Free Trade Union Documents, 1952-1953.
  • 5028
  • The reports deal with the following: union courses for miners, transport workers, and metal workers; special trade-union courses for Polish miners; and future education programs in France. Also reports of the International Metalworkers Federation, Railwaymen's Federation, National Federation of Workers in the Electricity and Gas Industries, Federation of Building and Wood Workers, Federation of Textile Workers of France and France Overseas, National Federation of Workers in the Chemical and Glass Industries, National Federation of Port and Dock Workers and workers in allied trades.
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions : records, 1951-1967.
  • 5010
  • This collection consists of subject files maintained by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. In addition to files on specific countries, this collection contains issues of the ICFTU Information Bulletin, International Trade Union News, and other periodicals, pamphlets, and reprints.
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Asian Regional Organization, 1958-1959.
  • 5272 and 5272mf
  • The ICFTU established regional organizations to strengthen operations in the various geographic areas. The regional organizations were to promote harmony and cooperation between all types of trade unions which were free agencies of the workers.
  • While they enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, they were at the same time responsible to the ICFTU for their actions. The Asian Regional Organization had jurisdiction in all the countries of Asia and the Far East.
  • The regional organization was to:
    1. Secure new affiliations
    2. Assist existing trade unions and promote the establishment of new ones.
    3. Organize regional conferences and discuss problems
    4. Coordinate activities
    5. Collect and distribute data about working and social conditions
    6. Advise the ICFTU on regional problems, implement its policy and carry on publicity for it.
  • This collection contains agendas and minutes of the Asian Regional Committee's Executive Board, reports of the Regional Secretary, and reports and other materials about trade unionism in Asia.
World Federation of Trade Unions. Records, 1945-1973.
  • 5595
  • This collection consists of records of the World Federation of Trade Union's conferences, including agendas, reports, and speeches. Included is an index.
International Trade Secretariats. Miscellaneous Documents, 1945-1950.
  • 5586m
  • This collection consists of memoranda and reports of the International Trade Secretariats.
World Federation of Trade Unions. Reports and Minutes, 1945-1949.
  • 5396 mf
  • The foundation of the World Federation of Trade Unions was laid at the World Labor Conference which met in London in February 1945. During the war period a spirit of cooperation had developed among world trade unions which could not find expression in the International Federation of trade Unions since the IFTU would not admit either the CIO or the Russians. The World Labor Conference proposed a reorganization of the IFTU to included these two groups, but the IFTU rejected it.
  • The Conference ended with the setting up of a Committee of Forty and a temporary Secretariat in Paris. A second conference was held in Paris in September and October of 1945 which set up a permanent body representing all affiliated national union centers, and created an Executive Committee, a small Executive Bureau and a General Secretary.
  • Trouble arose immediately when the WFTU then attempted to bring the International Trade Secretariats into its orbit, which was opposed by the AFL. The collection consists of minutes of meetings and documents issued during the period 1945-1949 when the Communist unions were attempting to take over control of the WFTU. This eventually resulted in the formation of the ICFTU.
  • The collection was filmed from a private source.

Selective Bibliography of Published Sources: ILGWU Staff and Officers

Antonini, Luigi.
  • Labor Unions in the United States: Submitted to the International Congress of American Democracies, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 20-30, 1939. Uruguay?: s.n, 1939.
Antonini, Luigi.
  • The "New Deal" Experiment in the U.S.: Submitted to the International Congress of American Democracies, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 20-30, 1939. Uruguay?: s.n, 1939.
Antonini, Luigi.
  • The Policy of Democracy in the Struggle against Fascism: Submitted to the International Congress of American Democracies, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 20-30, 1939. Uruguay?: s.n, 1939.
Antonini, Luigi.
  • Italian Labor Today. [N.p.]: American Federation of Labor, 1944.
Brown, Irving and John T. Dunlop.
  • Labor and International Affairs: Two Views. Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 1984.
Brown, Irving.
  • Les Syndicats Américans et les Problèmes Internationaux. Bruxelles: American Federation of Labor, [1950?].
Dubinsky, David, and Matthew Woll.
  • An International Bill of Rights: Presented, in Behalf of the American Federation of Labor, to the Social and
    Economic Council of the United Nationas for Consideration and Action.     Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1946.
Dubinsky, David.
  • Rift and Realignment in World Labor. New York: Council of Foreign Relations, 1949.
Dubinsky, David.
  • World Labor's New Weapon. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1950.
Dubinsky, David.
  • Instead of the McCarthy Method: A Battle-Wise Foe of the Communists Sets Out Concrete Alternatives for Curbing Their Influence in 'a More American Way.'. New York, N.Y.: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1953.
Hochman, Julius.
  • Labor and the Public. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1900.
Hochman, Julius.
  • The Record of Hitler's New Order in Europe. New York: Jewish Labor Committee, 1943.
Jay Lovestone and the Communist Party of the United States of America.
  • The Party Organization Workers (Communist) Party of America. Chicago, Ill: Workers (Communist) Party of America, 1920.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • The Labor Lieutenants of American Imperialism. New York: Daily Worker Pub. Co, 1923.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • America Prepares the Next War. New York: Workers library publishers, 1928.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • American Imperialism: The Menace of the Greatest Capitalist World Power. Chicago: Literature Dept., Workers Party of America, 1925.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • 1928, the Presidential Election and the Workers. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1928.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • For Unity of the World Communist Movement A Letter to the Independent Labor Party of Great Britain. New York: Communist Party of the U.S.A. (Opposition), 1934.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • Soviet Foreign Policy and the World Revolution. New York City: Workers Age Pub. Assoc, 1935.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • The People's Front Illusion: From "Social Fascism" to the "People's Front". New York: Workers Age Publishers, 1937.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • Report of Jay Lovestone on the Convention of the Communist Party of Mexico, the Establishment of a
    Pan-American Communist Bureau, Campaign against American Imperialism and the Party Programme for the Phillippine Crisis. 1938.
Lovestone, Jay.
  • New Frontiers for Labor. New York: Workers Age, 1970.
United States, and Jay Lovestone.
  • Communist and Workers' Parties' Manifest Adopted November-December, 1960. Interpretation and Analysis. Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Seventh Congress, First Session. Testimony of Jay Lovestone, January 26, February 2, 1961. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off, 1961.
Nagler, Isidore.
  • Local 10 Forges Ahead: Report to the Membership on Activities and Operations of Amalgamated Ladies Garment Cutters Union I.L.G.W.U. s.l: s.n, 1941.
Nagler, Isidore.
  • Trade Unions and the War. [New York]: Mutual Defense League, 1943.
Romualdi, Serafino.
  • Labor and Democracy in Latin America. Foreign Affairs, an American Quarterly Review. April 1947.
Romualdi, Serafino.
  • Human Problems of U.S. Enterprise in Latin America: Conference Report on Second Annual Management Seminar Held at New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. June 24-28, 1957. Cornell conference report. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, 1957.
Romualdi, Serafino.
  • Presidents and Peons; Recollections of a Labor Ambassador in Latin America. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1967.
Romualdi, Serafino.
  • Presidentes y trabajadores: memorias de un embajador sindicalista en América Latina. S.l: s.n.], 1971.
Springer, Maida.
  • American Labor Today. S.l: s.n, 1963.
Woll, Matthew, and Jay Lovestone.
  • The Big Smile: An Analysis of the Soviet "New Look". New York: Free Trade Union Committee, American Federation of Labor, 1955.
Woll, Matthew, Ernest Bevin, and Leon Jouhaux.
  • Labor and the World Crisis. New York: Workers Education Bureau Press, 1940.
Woll, Matthew.
  • Steps Necessary for High Post-War Employment. Washington: American Federation of Labor, 1944.
Zimmerman, Charles S.
  • Probable Effect of the War on the New York Women's Garment Industry and Some Recommendations: Report by a Special Committee of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. New York: s.n, 1942.

Selective Bibliography of Published Sources: AFL and CIO Leadership

Green, William.
  • The American Federation of Labor and World Labor Unity. [s.l. : s.n., 1945].
Green, William.
  • American Labor in World Affairs. [S.l.] : American Federation of Labor, 1943.
Green, William.
  • President Green Extols Labor Movement as Shield of Democracy and Relentless Foe of Dictatorships. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, [1936].
Green, William.
  • We Work for the Future : American Federation of Labor and National Defense. Washington : [American Federation of Labor], 1941.
Meany, George.
  • American and Soviet Economy : Contrast and Comparison. Washington, D.C. : American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, [1958?]
Meany, George.
  • America's Responsibility for the Preservation of Human Freedom. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, [1959]
Meany, George.
  • The Basic Principles of Foreign Aid. Washington, D.C. : AFL-CIO, n.d.
Meany, George.
  • Labor Fights the Enemies of Democracy. [Washington, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1964]
Meany, George.
  • The Last Five Years: How the American Federation of Labor fights Communism around the World. [Washington]: American Federation of Labor, 1951.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Information Service.
  • The Trade unions and NATO. With a preface by Mr. George Meany. Paris: North Atlantic Treaty Organization Information Division, 1957.
Murray, Phillip and Vicente Lombardo Toledano.
  • Labor's Good Neighbor Policy: Address. [New York, NY : Council for Pan American Democracy, 19--].
Murray, Phillip.
  • Your Wages and the War. [Washington, D.C., Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1943?]
Reuther, Walter.
  • Delegation to Israel: a Report by Walter P. Reuther, President, Congress of Industrial Organizations; report of the visit to Israel of the CIO delegation sent at the request of the Philip Murray Memorial Foundation to dedicate the Philip Murray Cultural Center at Eliat in September, 1955. Washington, D.C. : CIO, Dept. for International Affairs, [1955?]
Reuther, Walter.
  • How Labor and Management Can Cooperate to Preserve Freedom around the World. [Detroit, Mich. : UAW, 1953].
Reuther, Walter.
  • How to Beat the Communists. [S.l.] : Crowell-Collier Pub. Co., 1948.
Reuther, Walter.
  • The Need for Controlling Inflation in Order to Strengthen the American Economy in the World Crisis: Testimony of Walter P. Reuther. Detroit: Public Relations Dept., UAW-CIO, 1951.
Reuther, Walter.
  • A Proposal for a Total Peace Offensive to Stop Communist Aggression by Taking the Initiative in the World Contest for Men's Hearts and Loyalties. [Detroit : United Auto Workers-Congress of Industrial Organization, Public Relations Department, 1950]

Selective Bibliography of Secondary Sources

American Federation of Labor. Free Trade Union Committee.
  • American labor looks at the world. New York: AFL International Labor Relations Department, 1947-1955.
Andrews, Gregg.
  • Shoulder to Shoulder?: The American Federation of Labor, the United States, and the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1924. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Armstrong, Robert, Hank Frundt, Hobart Spalding and Sean Sweeney.
  • Working Against Us: The American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) and the International Policy of the AFL-CIO. New York: North American Congress on Latin America, 1988.
Berger, Henry Weinberg.
  • Union Diplomacy: American Labor's Foreign Policy in Latin America, 1932-1955. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1966, 1966.
Busch, Gary K.
  • The Political Role of International Trade Unions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.
Carew, Anthony.
  • Labour under the Marshall Plan: The Politics of Productivity and the Marketing of Management Science. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1987.
Cochran, Bert.
  • Labor and Communism: The Conflict That Shaped American Unions. Princeton: University of Princeton Press, 1977.
Epstein, Melech.
  • Jewish Labor in the U.S.A.: An Industrial, Political and Cultural History of the Jewish Labor Movement, Two Volumes in One. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1969.
Filippelli, Ronald L.
  • American Labor and Postwar Italy, 1943-1953. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1989.
Foster, William Z.
  • Outline History of the World Trade Union Movement. New York: International Publishers, [1956].
Gannon, Francis X.
  • Joseph D. Keenan, Labor's Ambassador in War and Peace: A Portrait of a Man and His Times. Lanham: University Press of America, 1984.
Gershman, Carl.
  • The Foreign Policy of American Labor. Beverly Hills, CA: [Published by] Sage Publications [for] the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, 1975.
Godson, Roy.
  • American Labor and European Politics: The AFL as a Transnational Force. New York: Crane, Russak, 1976.
Hahn, Peter L.
  • The Influence of Organized Labor on U.S. Policy Toward Israel, 1945-1967. [Columbus, Ohio]: Center for Labor Research, the Ohio State University, 1996.
Harrod, Jeffrey.
  • Trade Union Foreign Policy: A Study of British and American Trade Union Activities in Jamaica. Garden City, N.Y., Anchor Books, 1972.
Hero, Alfred O. Jr., and Emil Starr.
  • The Reuther-Meany Foreign Policy Dispute: Union Leaders and Members View World Affairs. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1970.
Katz, Daniel Lawrence.
  • A Union of Many Cultures: Yiddish Socialism and Interracial Organizing in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1913-1941. Ann Arbor, MI : UMI Dissertation Services, 2003.
Kerper, Michael.
  • The International Ideology of U.S. Labor, 1941-1975. [Gothenburg]: University of Gothenburg, Dept. of History, Research Section Post-War History, 1976.
Kimeldorf, Howard.
  • Reds or Rackets?: The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Kovas, Jon.
  • The Struggle for Legitimacy: Latin American Labor and the United States, 1930-1960. Tempe: Center for Latin American Studies, Arizona State University, 1992.
Kruglak, Gregory Theodore.
  • The Politics of United States Decision-making in United Nations Specialized Agencies : The Case of the International Labor Organization. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1980.
Larson, Simeon.
  • Labor and Foreign Policy: Gompers, the AFL, and the First World War, 1914-1918. Rutherford, NJ: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975.
Levenstein, Harvey A.
  • Labor Organizations in the United States and Mexico: A History of their Relations. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1971.
Lichtenstein, Nelson.
  • Labor Organizations in the United States and Mexico: A History of their Relations. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1971.
Lichtenstein, Nelson.
  • Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Link, Werner.
  • The contribution of Trade Unions and Businessmen to German-American Relations, 1945-1975. Trans. by Wayne E. Hall. Bloomington, IN: Institute of German Studies, 1978.
Lodge, George C.
  • Spearheads of Democracy: Labor in Developing Countries. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1962.
Lorwin, Louis.
  • The International Labor Movement: History, Policies, Outlook. New York: Harper, 1953.
MacShane, Denis.
  • International Labour and the Origins of the Cold War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Morgan, Ted.
  • A Covert Life: Jay Lovestone—Communist, Anti-communist, and Spymaster. New York: Random House, 1999.
Morris, George.
  • CIA and American Labor: The Subversion of the AFL-CIO's Foreign Policy. New York: International Publishers, 1982.
Otobo, Dafe.
  • Foreign Interests and Nigerian Trade Unions. Oxford: Malthouse Press, 1986.
Radosh, Ronald.
  • American Labour and US Foreign Policy. New York: Random House, 1969.
Rathbun, Ben.
  • The Point Man: Irving Brown and the Deadly Post-1945 Struggle for Europe and Africa. Montreux: Minerva Press, 1996.
Richards, Yevette.
  • Maida Springer: Pan-Africanist and International Labor Leader. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000.
Romero, Frederico.
  • The United States and the European Trade Union Movement, 1944-1951. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
Scott, Jack.
  • Yankee Unions, Go Home!: How the AFL Helped the U.S. Build an Empire in Latin America. Vancouver: New Star, 1978.
Silverman, Victor.
  • Imagining internationalism in American and British labor, 1939-49. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Sims, Beth.
  • Workers of the World Undermined: American Labor's Role in U.S. Foreign Policy. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
Snow, Sinclair.
  • The Pan-American Federation of Labor. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1964.
Stepan-Norris, Judith and Maurice Zeitlin.
  • Left Out: Reds and America's Industrial Unions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Sturmthal, Adolf and James G. Scoville, eds.
  • The International Labor Movement in Transition. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, 1973.
Taft, Philip.
  • Defending Freedom: American Labor and Foreign Affairs. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing, 1973.
Thomson, Don.
  • Where Were you, Brother? : An Account of Trade Union Imperialism. London: War on Want, 1978.
Van der Linden, Marcel, ed.
  • The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Bern: Peter Lang, 2000.
Wedin, Åke.
  • International Trade Union Solidarity: ICFTU, 1957-1965. Stockholm: Landsorganisationen I Sverige, 1974.
Wehrle, Edmund.
  • Between a River and a Mountain: The AFL-CIO and the Vietnam War. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005.
Wilde, Bart de.
  • The Past and Future of International Trade Unionism. [Ghent]: AMSAB, 2001.
Windmuller, John P.
  • The International Trade Union Movement. Deventer: Kluwer, 1980.
Windmuller, John P.
  • American Labor and International Labor Movement: 1940-1953. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1954.

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