Department Store and Office Workers' Organizing Collection
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Abstract
Efforts to unionize New York City department store employees in the 1930s took place under the auspices of the Department Store Employees Union, Local 1250 (at first affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and subsequently with the Congress of Industrial Organizations) and the Office Workers' Union, an affiliate of the Trade Union Unity League, a Communist Party labor initiative. The collection contains pamphlets, leaflets, newsletters and clippings relating to sit-down strikes, department store and office workers strikes and organizing in the 1930s, printed material from the Office Workers' Union, and of the Department Store Employees Union, Local 1250.
Historical/Biographical Note
Efforts to unionize New York City department store employees in the 1930s took place under the auspices of the Department Store Employees Union, Local 1250, at first affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The local became a CIO affiliate in 1937 and later expanded into Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The Office Workers' Union, a Communist Party labor initiative and an affiliate of the Trade Union Unity League, also organized workers in department stores, as well as clerical staff in a variety of businesses including newspapers, insurance and mail order companies.
Arrangement
The folders are arranged alphabetically.
The files are grouped into one series:
Missing Title
- I, General Files
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains pamphlets, leaflets, newsletters and clippings relating to sit-down strikes, department store and office workers strikes and organizing in the 1930s. Also included is printed material from the Office Workers' Union and the Department Store Employees Union, Local 1250 including some agreements. General information on AFL and CIO unions, TUUL strikes, sit-down strikes, coal strikes, and longshoremen's strikes in California and Hawaii is also included.
Subjects
Organizations
Topics
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
The Tamiment Library has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1916 to 1947, are expected to enter the public domain in 2068.
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
Transfer from the Rand School Archives, 1963. The accession number associated with this collection is 1963.002
Custodial History
The Department Store and Office Workers' Organizing Collection was transferred from the Rand School Archives in 1963. The original donor to the Rand School is unknown.