Mae and Harry Millstone Papers
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Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Mae Kaplan Millstone (1913-2009) was a newspaper section editor, union organizer, and activist for the labor movement and women's issues. Harry Millstone (1907-1999) was a union organizer, instructor, and activist for the labor movement. Mae and Harry met in Detroit while organizing with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and married in 1938. The Mae and Harry Millstone Papers contain material documenting their work and support for labor unions and the labor movement, both separately and together. Of note in this collection is a digital recording of the 2005 video interviews with Mae describing her life-long work and support for the labor movement, as well as her activism, dating from the 1930s to the 2000s. This collection also contains appointment books, as well as print material, training course manuals, and newsletters related to labor organizing. A scrapbook from the 1960s and subject files pertaining to women's issues document Mae's editorial work for the women's section of The Gazette and Daily in York, Pennsylvania. Family papers include travel diaries, ephemera, correspondence, and audio recordings and lyric sheets for labor movement-related songs.
Biographical Note
Mae Kaplan Millstone (1913-2009) graduated with a Master's degree in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University in 1934, and worked during the mid-1930s for the National Industrial Recovery Administration as a Special Investigator through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. She moved to Detroit in 1936 where she met Harry Millstone (1907-1999), who was a unionizer for the CIO at the time. They married in 1938. In 1941 they moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Mae left the workforce to raise their two children, but continued to volunteer in consumer and voter registration activities. The family moved to York, Pennsylvania in 1961, where Mae became the editor of the women's section for The Gazette and Daily newspaper. She also stayed active in her community by co-founding the group York Action for Peace, and continued her support of the labor movement. She was also active in the York Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and volunteered for Planned Parenthood. Harry was employed by Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America for many years as a union organizer and retired in 1973. He continued to educate others, teaching various courses on union organizing at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies during the 1980s. In 1999 he received the Pillar of Labor from the Tamiment Library and Wagner Labor Archives.
Arrangement
Organized chronologically within three series:
Series I. Mae Kaplan Millstone
Series II. Harry Millstone
Series III. Family
Scope and Contents
The Mae and Harry Millstone Papers (dated 1910-2009) consist of materials created and collected by Mae and Harry Millstone over the course of their lives as they worked and advocated for labor unions and workers' rights. This collection also includes files related to specific jobs held by Mae and Harry, as well as material representing them as a family and their combined interests. Files in this collection document Mae's work in the 1930s as a government investigator of the working conditions of women and children workers, as well as her involvement with the U.S. Office of Price Administration Labor Advisory Committee during World War II. This collection also includes material accumulated by Harry during his time with the Army Service Forces for the Quartermaster at Camp Lee in the 1940s. Mae's later work in the 1960s and 1970s as a women's section editor for the York, Pennsylvania The Gazette and Daily is documented in a scrapbook and subject files. Of particular note in this collection are the digital recordings of Mae's video interviews with her son, in which she describes her work and activism thoughout her life. This collection also contains Mae's appointment books with daily entries dating from the late 1950s to the 2000s. Harry's work with Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America and other organizations is well documented in this collection through his promotional print material and ephemera. Harry's instructor course manuals for his classes on union organizing are also in this collection dating from the 1980s. The family material includes trip diaries, correspondence, and ephemera, as well as audio recordings and print lyrics of labor movement and peace movement-related songs.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Mae and Harry Millstone were transferred to New York University in 2009 by David Millstone. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Mae and Harry Millstone Papers; WAG 303; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by David Millstone, 2009. The accession number associated with this gift is 2009.077.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
A majority of the audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. 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 Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives [special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596] with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
The following audio and video carriers with commercial recordings were separated from the collection: "Tom Juravich--Rising Again"; "Michael Parenti-the US War on Yugoslavia"; "Noam Chomsky - Kosovo and Iraq"; "US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Witnesses to the Holocaust";"Uprising of 1934"; and "1983 pay equity."
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Original caption information, when available, was transcribed onto the new folders and placed in brackets. Oversized material was placed in appropriate housing. Analog audio and audiovisual materials were assigned unique numbers, labeled, and physically grouped together into a new container.
4 carriers were forensically imaged. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
