Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Sidney Jonas Papers

Call Number

WAG.021

Date

1934-1938, inclusive

Creator

Jonas, Sidney, 1905-
Jonas, Sidney, 1905- (Role: Donor)

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Sidney Jonas, a labor union organizer, began his career by organizing shoe-workers. In 1934, he was appointed as a fieldworker for the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union. In 1936, United Automobile Workers (UAW-CIO) president, Homer Martin, appointed Jonas as his personal representative and director of the Northeast Region of the UAW-CIO. Jonas worked in this capacity until 1938. The collection consists of correspondence, clippings detailing Jonas' work as an organizer, minutes of the Committee for Industrial Organization Convention in Boston (1937) and the North Jersey Council for Industrial Organization, and a script for a theatrical production.

Historical/Biographical Note

Sidney Jonas was born in Poland in 1905 and immigrated to the United States in 1922. He began his career as a labor union organizer by organizing shoe-workers. As a member of the Young Workers League (later the Young Communist League), he was affiliated with the Lovestone faction in the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). When Lovestone was expelled from the CPUSA in 1930, Jonas, along with other Lovestonites, resigned from the Party to form the Communist Oppositionists of the United States.

In 1934, he was appointed as a fieldworker for the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, with assignments in New York, Massachusetts and the Midwest.

After meeting him at an American Federation of Labor convention in 1936, United Automobile Workers president Homer Martin appointed Jonas as his personal representative and director of the Northeast Region of the UAW-CIO. Jonas worked in this capacity until 1938.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically

The files are grouped into 1 series:

Missing Title

  1. I, General Files, 1934-1938.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of correspondence to Jonas from officials of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union and the United Automobile Workers of America, including letters of introduction to other union officials in the Northeast and Midwest, telegrams, and personal greeting cards. Clippings relating to Jonas's work as an organizer, primarily for the UAW, are also included. Minutes of the Committee for Industrial Organization Convention in Boston (1937) and the North Jersey Council for Industrial Organization are also present. A script for a theatrical production entitled "Shop Strife," written by Jonas and Frederick Wright, is also included.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Sidney Jonas were transferred to New York University in 1982 by Sidney Jonas. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Sidney Jonas Papers; WAG 021; 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

Donated by Sidney Jonas, 1982. The accession number associated with this gift is 1983.010.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Sidney Jonas Photographs (PHOTOS 027)

Interview with Sidney Jonas in New Yorkers at Work Oral History Collection (OH 001)

Collection processed by

Hillel Arnold

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:46:17 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Edition of this Guide

Jonas, Sidney WAG 21.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