YIVO Awarded $150,000 Grant from the National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Records Commission

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a grant of $150,000 from the National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The Commission supports activities to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources.

This grant will enable YIVO to process and digitize three important collections from YIVO's Jewish Labor and Political Archives (JLPA) which documents Jewish political, labor, and social movements in the United States and Europe from 1870 to 1992. The collections include:

1) International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Collection, 1894-1970s

Founded in 1900 by members of seven local unions in New York City mainly representing newly arrived Jewish and Italian immigrants, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union grew to become one of the largest labor unions in the United States. In addition to fighting for workers’ rights, the union took an active role in improving the lives of its workers beyond the factory walls. The ILGWU organized educational opportunities and provided English language and citizenship classes. It established a healthcare program for its members and became the first American union to negotiate an unemployment compensation fund.

The materials in this collection include records on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, including photographs, clippings, and speeches of ILGWU members; materials related to strikes in which the ILGWU led or participated in; meeting minutes, membership lists, leaflets, flyers, and photographs; and materials documenting the work of the ILGWU Education Department, Training Institute, and Health and Welfare Department.

2) Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Collection, 1914-1984

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was founded in 1914 in an act of revolt against the dominant union of men’s clothing workers, the United Garment Workers, whose leadership had become increasingly disconnected both socially and economically from the majority of its membership base, many of whom were Jewish and Italian immigrants.

The ACW collection contains pamphlets, leaflets, clippings, correspondence, minutes, constitutions, agreements, contracts, photos, financial records, reports, and materials related to its social aid programs and more.

3) Jewish Labor Committee Collection, 1930s-1960s

The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) was founded in 1934 by leaders of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the United Hebrew Trades, and other related Jewish groups in response to the rise of Nazism and a desire to provide a Jewish labor presence in the councils of the American trade-union movement’s struggle against fascism. The JLC supported Jewish civil and human rights, backed anti-fascist groups, and aided refugees.

Of particular interest are the materials documenting the role of the JLC in anti-Nazi activities in the US including the anti-Nazi boycotts of 1934-1939 as well as records of the JLC's refugee rescue efforts and orphan aid program and transcripts of JLC's radio programs from the 1940s.

These three collections are part of a new eight-year, $8 million project to conserve, process, and digitize YIVO’s Jewish Labor and Political Archives (JLPA). The project will make these materials available online free-of-charge. The largest archival digitization project in YIVO’s history, the JLPA consists of approximately 3.5 million pages.

The JLPA collections illustrate how the transnational activities of the Jewish working class were instrumental in the international labor movement.. These collections provide valuable insights on the role and impact of the Jewish immigrant community in American trade unions, labor organizations, political groups, and on American culture. They serve as a bridge to understanding the evolution and diversity of the American Jewish experience.

Over the last six months, YIVO has received four government grants totaling $732,948 to support YIVO’s Jewish Labor and Political Archives project.

For any media inquiries please contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story