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Asian Garment Workers in New York City Oral History Collection

Call Number

OH.018

Date

1989-2004, inclusive

Creator

Nguyen, Bichiluyen (Role: Donor)
Chin, Winifred C., 1952- (Role: Donor)
New York University. Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute (Role: Donor)

Extent

1 Linear Feet in 1 card catalog drawer and one shared manuscript box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Abstract

The collection consists of interviews of garment workers who came to New York City from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and California. Interviews are primarily with International Ladies Garment Workers' Union members and staff (especially Local 23-25) and its successor organization the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), but one interview is with a garment manufacturer. Topics covered include emigration to the United States, working conditions, joining the ILGWU, major strikes, the effects of globalization on the garment industry and unions, and unique challenges in organizing in the Asian-American community. The majority of the interviews were taken in 1989 by Bichiluyen Nguyen of NYU's History Department. Interviews were taken in English, Chinese or Vietnamese, and indexes or transcripts exist in English for all interviews.

Historical/Biographical Note

NYU undergraduate Bichiluyen Nguyen, herself a Vietnamese immigrant, conducted five of the interviews as part of an internship in the History Department in 1989. In 2003, five additional interviews regarding the labor movement in the Chinatown garment shops were taken by Winifred Chin, a visiting scholar at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute.

Arrangement

Access compact disks are arranged alphabetically. Master cassettes, indexes, and transcripts are arranged according to an archivist-devised numbering system.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of ten interviews with garment workers who came to New York City from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and California. Interviews are primarily with International Ladies Garment Workers' Union members and staff (especially Local 23-25) and its successor organization, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE). One interview is with a garment manufacturer. Topics covered include emigration to the United States, working conditions, joining the ILGWU, major strikes, the impacts of globalization, and unique challenges in organizing in the Asian-American community.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Bichiluyen Nguyen or Winifred C. Chin are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from repository. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Asian Garment Workers in New York City Oral History Collection; OH 018; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Bichiluyen Nguyen donated the interviews with Paul Bui, Shui Mak Ka, Connie Ling, Katie Quan, and Kieu Tran in 1989. "The Asian-American Labor Movement: An Oral History of the Organization of the Chinatown Garment Shops" and the Muzaffar Chishti interview were deposited with Tamiment by Winifred Chin and the Asian/Pacific/American Institute in 2004. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1950.056 and 2014.005.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Related Archival Materials

The audio for the interviews with Jay Mazur, Edgar Romney, and May Chen can be found in the collection New Yorkers at Work (OH 001).

May Chen Papers (WAG 301)

Tung Pok Chin and Wing Fong Chin Papers and Photographs (TAM 235)

Collection processed by

Unattributed Tamiment staff and David A. Olson

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:45:13 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Collection rehoused and labeled sometime after 1989. Entire collection digitized in 2013-2014, and a full finding aid was written at this time. Additional material from the Chin donation was located in 2014 and the finding aid updated accordingly.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012