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Daniel Nilva Negatives

Call Number

PHOTOS.067

Dates

1934-1975, inclusive
; 1950-1960, bulk

Creator

Nilva, Daniel
Nilva, Sheila Cole (Role: Donor)

Extent

5.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The collection is comprised of 6,827 black and white negatives shot by photographer Daniel Nilva. These images reflect Nilva's personal and professional involvement with trade unions, as well as his political interests and affiliations. Union photographs include images shot for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, and International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers, among others. While many of the images record routine meetings and banquets, a significant part of the collection documents strikes and demonstrations, and a small but significant splinter group of the Communist Party of the U.S., the Communist Party (Opposition).

Historical/Biographical Note

Daniel Nilva was born in New York City on March 7, 1914, the only child of Joseph Nilva and Eva Bloom, Russian Jewish immigrants. Joseph Nilva worked as a painter-in a shipyard, and gilding and painting moldings of buildings--and as a pushcart peddler. Eva Nilva worked as a fan dancer on the popular stage; she taught Nilva to dance and he performed on stage with her as a child. Nilva's parents were divorced by the time he was in his teens, and may have separated earlier. In any case, it appears that between the ages of six and thirteen he was moved around considerably, living with each of his parents in turn, and then sent to board with and attend school with friends in the Midwest, in Omaha and Chicago, and finally to a farm in Roscoe, New York, where he lived until he completed high school. Nilva became close to the farm family and a lifelong friend of Leon Becker (later a criminal court judge), who also boarded at the farm. It was here that Nilva acquired his first camera, a Brownie box camera.

The 1930s were a formative time in Nilva's life- personally, politically, and professionally. He returned to New York City, where he attended Cooper Union, studying engineering for four years, although he did not graduate. He married Alice Mildred ("Millie") Elkes and became friends with three men to whom he remained close the rest of his life--Bernard Seaman, a labor cartoonist, Morris Stone, later an official with the American Arbitration Association, and Dr. Valentine Gregory Burtan, a heart specialist who had been imprisoned on a counterfeiting charge. Nilva also joined the Communist Party Opposition (a splinter group of the Communist Party, led by Jay Lovestone), and in early 1933 he went to work as a photographer for the Education Department of Local 22, Dressmakers, of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU). Millie Nilva appears also to have been associated with Local 22 and may have worked there. Nilva documented functions and activities of the Local with his camera and photographed for the ILGWU newspaper, Justice. He did freelance work for the Bookkeepers Stenographers and Accountants Union's newspaper, The Ledger,as well. His primary cameras were a Leica Model G and a 4x5 Speed Graphic.

In 1937, Nilva's employment with Local 22 came to an end. The following year he sat for and passed New York City's civil service examination for photographers. At the recommendation of Jay Lovestone, he applied directly for a job with the president of the Civil Service Commission, but evidently was not successful. Nilva was rejected for military service in World War II because of his extremely poor eyesight. During the war, he worked in New Orleans at an aircraft factory. After that he had considerable difficulty finding work before landing a full-time job at the New York Public Library in an unknown capacity. By the 1950s, however, Nilva was working full-time as a freelance photographer in New York City, and maintained a studio at at least one address (Broadway and 27th Street). His clients included a variety of labor unions and progressive organizations.

Nilva's marriage to Millie Nilva did not last long. The couple had no children and were separated for nearly twenty years before divorcing. Nilva met his second wife, Sheila Cole, a writer, in 1957, when she was 27 years old. They married in 1964. Their daughters, Daniella and Stephanie, were born in 1965 and 1966. The family lived in a townhouse at 222 E 11th Street in Manhattan. Daniel and Sheila Nilva's early years together were a financial struggle; they had difficulty paying medical bills when he suffered a heart attack. Moreover, because of the heart attack's toll on his health, he was forced to cut back on his photography. By the mid-1960s, however, Sheila Nilva had opened an antique shop, which they then both ran -- featuring cameras and photographica, among other items -- that eventually became successful enough to support the family. The Nilvas -- partly underwritten by Sheila Nilva's freelance assignments as a travel writer for the New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, and Ladies Home Journal--traveled extensively in North Africa and Europe (as well as throughout the United States and the Caribbean). Nilva died September 15, 1984, of a heart attack, at the age of seventy.

Nilva's photographs appear in the collections of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at Cornell University, and in the Manuscripts Department of the Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sources:

Telephone interview by Erika Gottfried with Sheila Cole Nilva February 5, 2001.1960-1984 Daniel Nilva typed reminiscences, by Sheila Nilva, March 2001 (at Tamiment Library).1920 United States Federal Census, Manhattan Assembly District 18, New York (Microfilm roll: T625-1218, p. 2A, lines 76-78). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.1930 United States Federal Census, Manhattan, New York. (Microfilm roll: 1571, pg. 3A, Enumeration District 801, Image 280.0). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.[Log of the MS Hurricane.] Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957. Year: 1951. (Microfilm Roll: T715-8038, pg. 142, line 18). National Archives Microfilm Publication T715. Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.Draft Registration Card for Joseph Nilva, ca. 1942. United States Selective Service System, "Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration; Local Board: New York, NY. Microfilm Roll: WW2 - 236840.Nilva, Sheila Cole. "Upstate Dude Ranch Roundup." New York Times, October 9, 1977; p.XX9Schiro, Anne-Marie. "Gift Baskets for All Seasons." New York Times, December 20, 1983; p. B14.Imported Face Masks Help Keep Boys Warm. New York Times, January 26, 1965, p.30.Gift for Green Thumbs: 1,200 Live Ladybugs. New York Times, December 23, 1971, p. 14.Display Ad 228-No Title. (in "Situations Wanted-Male-Commercial-Miscellaneous): "Photographer, experienced…". New York Times, December 19, 1937, p. 184.Obituary-("NILVA, Alice Mildred (nee Elkes)", New York Times, October 4, 1989.Entry for Daniel Nilva. United States Social Security Administration Death Index, Master File.

Arrangement

The Unions, Labor Organizations, Political Parties and Organizations, Personalities/Portraits, and Other Clients series are arranged in alphabetical order by client (that is, the name of the organization or individual that engaged the photographer to cover a particular event) and then chronologically within clients. The remaining series are arranged chronologically. The Unions series is further divided by internationals, district councils and then locals.

Organized into 9 series:

Missing Title

  1. I, Unions
  2. II, Labor Organizations
  3. III, Political Parties and Organizations
  4. IV, Demonstrations/Rallies/Parades
  5. V, Strikes
  6. VI, Miscellaneous Events
  7. VII, Personalities/Portraits
  8. VIII, Other Clients
  9. IX, Personal

Scope and Content Note

The collection is comprised of 6,827 black and white negatives divided into 570 separate shoots.

The images reflect Daniel Nilva's photographic work for labor unions, as well as his political interests and affiliations. Union photographs include images Nilva shot (mainly in New York City) for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union; International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; the International Longshoreman's Association, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. While many of the images are of meetings and banquets, a significant part of the collection also documents strikes and demonstrations; of particular interest among these images are the 1951 New York waterfront wildcat strike, surveillance photographs shot during a strike, the Teamsters' Ketcham strike of 1955, the Seafarers Strike of 1950, a 1956 civil rights rally in Madison Square Garden, a public meeting supporting the Hungarian revolution of 1956, a demonstration by dressmakers in the 1950s, and May Day parades of the 1930s. Nilva's photographs that relate to the Communist Party (Opposition)--a splinter group of the U.S. Communist Party--are especially noteworthy and include images of a CPO-related meeting at its headquarters at the New Workers School, in which striking murals by Diego Rivera are visible as background. The collection also includes images of and events sponsored by progressive organizations such as the Harlem Labor Center and the American Veterans' Committee. The collection contains a sampling of Nilva's non-union clients, which included charitable organizations such as the Deborah Hospital and Sanitorium and the City of Hope (both founded to treat and eliminate tuberculosis) that received considerable support from trade unions.

Individuals are documented as well--either in portraits or group photographs, including David Dubinsky, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jay Lovestone, George Meany, Harvey Olnick, Bertram Wolfe, Charles Zimmerman, New York City Mayor Robert Wagner, and friends Bernard Seaman and Val Burtan. Nilva also occasionally made copy shots of historical labor-union or political photographs. These images have been retained in the collection as they may no longer exist in other collections and may now represent unique photographic documents.

Each series is comprised of "shoots." A shoot is a group of photographic images shot by the photographer of one event--usually, but not always, on the same day. Each shoot has a unique identifying number (selected individual images within shoots have also been assigned individual numbers). The container list for this finding aid includes a complete list of shoot-level descriptions for all the images in the Collection; in the container list, shoot numbers are listed in the column for "item." Shoot descriptions include Nilva's original captions, as well as clarifications, corrections, identifications, and additional visual details provided by the processing archivists. These additions are enclosed within square brackets, so that they may be distinguished from the original caption information.

Selected shoots or portions of shoots have been microfilmed (R-7850) to provide reference access and must be viewed in this format; original negatives not microfilmed may also be viewed by researchers. Contact the repository for a complete list of shoots from this collection that have been microfilmed, with reel and frame numbers.

You can also click on the link within the shoot record itself in the container list below. Those shoots in which some (or occasionally all) negatives have been microfilmed are indicated in the Container List by: Microfilm. Researchers wishing to know if a complete shoot has been microfilmed can compare the number of images in a given shoot (in the Table of Contents below) with the number of images from that shoot they find microfilmed.

In order to help researchers quickly ascertain what this large Collection includes, a Collection Table of Contents listing all the Collection's series and clients, with their date ranges and the total number of images they contain, has been provided as a convenient overview (in contrast to the detailed, shoot-level descriptions in the Container List) of collection contents:

COLLECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS

SERIES I: UNIONS

AFSCME, Local 1707/District 1707; 1940s-1961; 122 negs
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of Americas--Laundry Workers; 1950s - 1960s; 17 negs
American Transport Union; 1956; 29 negs
Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 3; 1950s; 8 negs
Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 262; 1950s; 12 negs
Bookkeepers, Stenographers and Accountants Union, Local 12646; 1911 - 1940s; 36 negs
Chefs, Cooks, Pastry Cooks and Assistants Union, Local 89; 1956; 14 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union; 1950 - 1960s; 36 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 1; 1956; 29 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 6; 1950; 17 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 11; 1950s; 48 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union - Bartenders, Local 15; 1964; 3 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 16; 1950-1951; 9 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 144; 1951; 23 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union - Cafeteria Employees, Local 302; 1964; 2 negs
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union - Waiters, Local 325; 1951; 4 negs
Industrial Insurance Employees Union; 1950; 6 negs
Industrial Insurance Employees Union, Local 1706; 1950s - 1951; 30 negs
Industrial Workers of the World; 1914; 1 neg
International Association of Machinists, District 15; 1956; 3 negs
International Brotherhood of Longshoremen; 1955; 3 negs
International Brotherhood of Teamsters; 1960; 16 negs
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 1343; 1950s; 4 negs
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union; 1930s - 1962; 123
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Local 62; 1960; 34 negs
International Longshoremen's Association; 1940s - 1954; 358 negs
International Longshoremen's Association, Local 99; 1962; 4 negs
International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots; 1940s; 12 negs
International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, and Machine Workers; 1940s - 1958; 73 negs
International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, and Machine Workers, Local 441; 1950; 10 negs
Office Employees International Union, Local 153; 1950s; 2 negs
Playthings and Novelty Workers Union; 1950s; 11 negs
Retail Clerks International Association; 1949; 3 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union; 1947 - 1951; 34 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 1-S; 1950s - 1961; 126 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 3; 1940s; 1 neg
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 338; 1948 - 1955; 69 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 474; 1950s; 6 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 1102; 1950s; 2 negs
Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 1250; 1940s; 1 neg
Seafarers' International Union; 1940s - 1950s; 78 negs
Textile Workers Union of America; 1950s - 1956; 18 negs
Transport Workers Union of America; 1949 - 1962; 101 negs
Transport Workers Union of America, Local 501; 1960s; 34 negs
United Automobile Workers of America; 1950s-1960; 37 negs
United Automobile Workers of America, District 65; 1956 - 1961; 215 negs
United Furniture Workers of America; 1950s - 1958; 30 negs
United Furniture Workers of America, Local 76B; 1952 - 1958; 165 negs
United Furniture Workers of America, Local 102; 1953; 6 negs
United Shoeworkers of America; 1950s; 27 negs
United Store and Allied Products Workers; 1955; 3 negs
United Textile Workers of America; 1956; 86 negs
United Textile Workers of America, Local 229; 1957; 18 negs

SERIES II: LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

AFL; 1935 - 1955; 108 negs
AFL-CIO; 1950 - 1961; 380 negs
American Commission on Africa; 1959; 232 negs
American Labor Education Service; 1955; 3 negs
CIO; 1930s - 1951; 105 negs
Harlem Labor Center; 1950s; 4 negs
Histadrut; 1950s - 1975; 109 negs
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; 1940s - 1960s; 12 negs
International Workers Front against War; 1930s; 142 negs
Jewish Labor Committee; 1949 - 1961; 96 negs
League for Industrial Democracy; 1946 - 1957; 8 negs
New York City Central Labor Council; 1950s; 7 negs
Trades Union Congress; 1955; 22 negs
Women's Trade Union League; 1957; 3 negs

SERIES III: POLITICAL PARTIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

American Labor Party; 1936 - 1940s; 64 negs
British Labour Party; 1960s; 1 neg
Independent Communist Party; [early 1930s] - 1940s; 322 negs
Liberal Party; undated; 10 negs

SERIES IV: DEMONSTRATIONS/RALLIES/PARADES

Demonstrations/Rallies/Parades; 1930s - 1961; 1193 negs

SERIES V: STRIKES

Strikes; 1886; 1950s; 141 negs

SERIES VI: MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS

Miscellaneous Events; 1930s-1958; 153 negs

SERIES VII: PERSONALITIES/PORTRAITS

Baron, Murray; 1958; 4 negs
Beam, Gus; 1950s; 2 negs
Bloom, Max; 1950; 6 negs
Bloom, Mel; 1956; 2 negs
Burtan, Val; 1958 - 1961; 9 negs
Carey, James; 1950; 10 negs
Cole, David L.; 1950s; 2 negs
Columbia, Lara; 1950; 2 negs
Culbertson, Ely; 1946; 1 neg
Davis, Lester; 1960s; 3 negs
DeDefler, Linda; 1960; 3 negs
Eisenhower, Dwight D.; 1940s; 4 negs
Farrell, James; 1950s; 1 neg
Friedman, Carl J.; 1946; 1 neg
Goldberg, Arthur; 1959; 2 negs
Goldsmith, Gene; 1956; 3 negs
Hall, Paul; 1953; 20 negs
Harrison, George; 1950s; 2 negs
Iushewitz, Morris; 1950; 6 negs
Jaffe, Arnold; 1951; 3 negs
Jessel, George; 1950s; 24 negs
Kalster, Arthur; 1948; 6 negs
Koening, Murray; 1951; 2 negs
LaGuardia, Fiorello; 1938; 3 negs
Lawrence, Mort; 1959; 2 negs
Lewis, John L.; 1930s; 1 neg
Lovestone, Jay; 1934 - 1940s; 31 negs
Manson, Jules; 1956 - 1957; 8 negs
Mieblum, R.; 1950s; 1 neg
Mooney, Thomas; 1930s; 7 negs
Mozen, John; 1950s; 2 negs
Nehama, Saby; 1950; 2 negs
Newman, Oscar; 1946; 5 negs
O'Dwyer, William; 1946; 6 negs
Olnick, Harvey; 1949 - 1954; 8 negs
Persands, L.; 1920s; 1 neg
Pesotta, Rose; 1960; 15 negs
Richardson, Bob; 1960; 4 negs
Riebo, Richard; 1950s; 6 negs
Rogan, Larry; 1950s; 3 negs
Roosevelt, Eleanor; 1940s; 12 negs
Samovodin, Milton; 1951; 6 negs
Scharfman, I.; 1951; 5 negs
Schukin, Dave; 1960s; 3 negs
Seaman, Bernard; 1949 - 1954; 104 negs
Sepsin, Ralph; 1950s; 2 negs
Seymour, Horatio; 1952; 4 negs
Smith, Frances; 1957; 2 negs
Snyder, C.; 1957; 5 negs
Springer, Enrich; 1955; 4 negs
Steinbock, Max; 1950s; 1 neg
Steinburg, Julie; 1949; 1 neg
Tolstoy, Lydia; 1951; 6 negs
Wagner, Robert F., Jr.; 1950s; 1 neg
Watson, Arthur K.; 1950s; 5 negs
Welsh, E.; 1934; 2 negs
Welsh, Edward K.; 1957; 6 negs
Wishengrad, Morton; 1950; 4 negs
Wolfe, Bertram D.; 1934-1950s; 3 negs
Woll, Matthew; 1950s; 3 negs
Yagoda, Lou; 1959; 12 negs
Zimmerman, Charles; 1940s-1950s; 3 negs

SERIES VIII: OTHER CLIENTS

American Veterans Committee; 1956 - 1962; 39 negs
Jewish Consumptive Relief Association; 1951 - 1962; 606 negs
Leather Craft Guild; 1940s; 16 negs
New York State Department of Labor; 1950s; 3 negs
Produce Exchange; 1950 - 1959; 12 negs
Rural Schools; 1955; 5 negs
WEVD Radio; 1930s - 1938; 7 negs

SERIES IX: PERSONAL

Personal; 1930s - 1950s; 245 negs

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Daniel Nilva were transferred to New York University in 1994 and 1997 by Sheila Cole Nilva. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials in Series 1 through 9 were purchased by the Tamiment Library, NYU from Sheila Cole Nilva on November 30, 1994. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1994.029 and NPA.1995.013. The materials in Series 10 (unprocessed) were donated by her in 1997. The accession number associated with this gift is NPA.1997.023.

Related Material

Daniel Nilva Papers (TAM.272)

Daniel Nilva Photographs (PHOTOS.262)

Daniel Nilva, Photographer--Garment industry photographs. (Collection# P-5969, UNITE Archives, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation, Cornell University)

Collection processed by

Maneesha Patel and Erika Gottfried, 2004-2007, with the assistance of Emily Brewer-Yarnell, Stephina Fisher, Bridget Hartzler, Mieke Duffly, Benjamin Hatch, and Shelley Lightburn.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:38:08 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from NILVA FINAL GUIDE.doc

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