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Jane LaTour Papers

Call Number

WAG.317

Dates

1978-2023, inclusive
; 2001-2015, bulk

Creator

LaTour, Jane
LaTour, Jane (Role: Donor)

Extent

16.67 Linear Feet in 32 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box, 4 oversized flat boxes, 4 folders in shared housing, and 1 VHS tape in a shared manuscript box
45.58 Megabytes in 98 digital files
1 videocassettes (vhs)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Jane LaTour (1946-2023) was a journalist, labor activist, and educator who lived in New York City. She wrote for various union publications including The Indypendent and Hard Hat News; collaborated with numerous organizations including the New York Labor History Association and the National Organization for Women (NOW); and wrote the book Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City. The Jane LaTour Papers (1978-2023) consist of materials created and/or collected by LaTour in the course of writing Sisters in the Brotherhoods including her book proposal, correspondence, research files, and oral history interview transcripts. The collection also includes promotional materials and press related to LaTour's Sisters in the Brotherhoods book tour; copies of articles written by LaTour focused upon labor movements and women in non-traditional work roles; research materials related to the #MeToo movement and other topics of interest to LaTour; conference materials such as programs and speeches; as well as photographs and t-shirts.

Biographical Note

Jane LaTour (1946-2023) was a journalist, labor activist, and educator living in New York City. LaTour wrote for various union publications including The Indypendent and Hard Hat News; collaborated with numerous organizations including the New York Labor History Association and the National Organization for Women (NOW); and wrote the book Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City.

LaTour first became involved in labor activism in the 1960s, leading protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Edison, New Jersey. In 1975 she earned her Bachelor of Arts in history and in 1979 she earned her Master of Arts in labor studies from Rutgers University.

In 1977, she became an organizer for District 65, United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Coalition for Labor Union Women. In the 1980s, LaTour began to focus more closely on union reform, particularly around issues effecting women working in non-traditional male-dominated professions. In 1989, LaTour was appointed as the director for the Women's Project for the Association of Union Democracy and also spent several years working with the White Lung Association, a nonprofit focused on educating the public about the hazards of asbestos exposure in the workplace.

As an educator, LaTour was affiliated with the labor education program at Empire State College at Queen's College, Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), and New York University's Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Throughout her career, she participated in numerous academic, labor union, and feminist conferences.

LaTour was a two-time winner of the Mary Heaton Vorse Award, a labor journalism award in New York City. She was also awarded the John Commenford Labor Education Award in 2012.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged thematically starting with materials related to the writing of Sisters in the Brotherhoods, then the promotion of Sisters in the Brotherhoods, then materials from conferences Jane LaTour attended, and finally papers relating topics of interest and/or importance to LaTour and her original writings. Within these groupings, materials were arranged alphabetically by file title.

Scope and Contents

The Jane LaTour Papers (1978-2023) consist of materials created and/or collected by LaTour in the course of writing Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2008. This monograph focuses upon the lives and experiences of 23 women working in traditionally male dominated jobs in New York City. The subjects of each chapter range from female firefighters, union officials, electricians, telecommunication employees, truck drivers, plumbers, and biomedical engineers. Materials related to the creation of Sisters in the Brotherhoods include proposals for her book; correspondence with interview subjects and LaTour's publisher; research files and notes focused on women in the labor movement and trade employment; and oral history interview transcripts.

The collection also contains documents related to LaTour's Sisters in the Brotherhoods book tour in the form of promotional materials such as book advertisements, tour flyers, book tour invitations, and pamphlets; book reviews and press related to her speaking engagements; transcripts of speeches given throughout her book tour; print and digital photographs; and correspondence with critics, her publishers, and supporters of the book. Together, these materials provide insight into how LaTour came to write this book, why the subject matter was important to her, and the amount of work she applied to producing this monograph, as well as promoting it.

Throughout her career, LaTour also attended conferences focused upon gender equality, women's labor organizations, and labor history. To this effect, the collection contains materials from conferences LaTour attended and include transcripts of her speeches and interviews; conference programs; print and digital photographs; and background information about the conferences' focus and the organizations represented.

The Jane LaTour Papers also includes copies of articles and lectures written by LaTour focused upon labor movements and women in non-traditional work roles; research materials related to the #MeToo movement and other topics of interest; correspondence between LaTour, friends, organizations she was affiliated with, and labor organizations; t-shirts from unions, non-profit organizations, and labor movements; and one VHS tape about female firefighter Brenda Berkman.

Recurring themes found across the Jane LaTour Papers include racial and sexual discrimination, gender equality, women in labor unions, vocational education, and pregnancy as it pertains to working women. These were all topics of importance to LaTour. Her extensive research and writings on these subjects; her numerous speaking engagements focused upon these subjects; and her active outreach within trades organizations, unions, and beyond – all of which is reflected in this collection – further establish her commitment towards gender equality and labor activism.

Donors

LaTour, Jane

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by Jane LaTour was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.

The donor has agreed to give the Tamiment Library non-exclusive worldwide online and print publication rights in perpetuity for non-commercial use of the collection. Any images from the collection that are published must be accompanied by the following credit line: "Image from the Jane LaTour Papers."

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Jane LaTour Papers; WAG 317; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Jane LaTour in several installments between 2000-2016. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1950.189, 2011.012, 2016.036, NPA.2000.132, and 2019.119. Provenance unknown for materials found in the repository that were added to the collection in 2014. The accession number associated with these materials is 2014.060.

In August 2023, Gail Malmgreen donated materials collected following the death of Jane LaTour; the accession number for this gift is 2023.094.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

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

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 Labor 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.

Related Materials

New York Hard Hat News Records (WAG.212), White Lung Association: New York Chapter Records (WAG.077), Association for Union Democracy: Women's Project Records (WAG.331), United Automobile Workers of America District 65 Records (WAG.006),

Collection processed by

Rachel Searcy and Aki Snyder

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-10-30 16:09:56 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the Jane LaTour Photographs (PHOTOS 147). In 2014, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Jane LaTour Papers (WAG 317). Materials found in the repository in 2014 were added to the collection. Materials in the 2019 accretion were rehoused in new acid-free folders where necessary, with original titles transcribed.

The Jane LaTour Papers (1978-2019) were arranged and described by an archivist in the summer of 2023. Materials were placed in new archival folders and boxes. Original folder titles were retained when possible. Materials were grouped together thematically and then arranged alphabetically by file title. Photographs and negatives were removed from their original housing and placed into archival sleeves. One VHS tapes was assigned a unique AV identifing number, placed in a shared archival box, and intellectually incorporated into the finding aid.

The archivist describing the Jane LaTour Papers chose to retain some of LaTour's original language for describing her work including the phrase "non-traditional" to describe jobs perceived to be normally held by men (i.e. construction work, firefighting, and plumbing).

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. Five optical discs containing documents and photographs were forensically imaged and analyzed using FTK.

Revisions to this Guide

August 2016: Updated by Craig Savino to include materials added from accessions 2016.036 and 2016.037
October 2019: Updated by Amy C. Vo to include materials from the 2019 accretion
October 2023: Updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2023 accretion

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