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Rose Schneiderman Photographs

Call Number

PHOTOS.010

Date

1909-1962, inclusive

Creator

Schneiderman, Rose, 1882-1972

Extent

0.33 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

From the time that she entered the garment trade in 1899, Rose Schneiderman worked through a variety of organizations to unionize women workers and to improve their working conditions. Schneiderman was a socialist, suffragist, labor organizer and women's rights activist who helped to organize the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and eulogized the garment workers who died in the 1911 Triangle Fire. A longtime member of the Women's Trade Union League, she was president of the national organization from 1927 to 1947. As a labor spokesperson, she served as secretary of the New York State Department of Labor, was the only woman member of the Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration, and during World War II, she served on the Advisory Council of the Women's Recovery Administration and the Women's Interest Section of the War Department Bureau. The collection includes photographs that were separated from the Rose Schneiderman Papers (Tamiment 018). The bulk of the images are group portraits showing members of the various labor organizations in which Schneiderman participated.

Historical/Biographical Note

Rose Schneiderman (1882-1972), Jewish labor organizer, socialist, suffragist, campaigner for protective legislation for women, and leader of the Women's Trade Union League(WTUL) was born of working-class parents in Russian Poland and emigrated to the United States in 1890, where she entered the work force at age 13. In 1903 she organized her follow cap workers, creating Local 23 of the United Cloth, Hat & Cap Makers of North America. She joined the Socialist Party and the WTUL in 1905, quickly becoming a leading figure in the WTUL as full-time organizer on New York's lower east side and an executive board member. Schneiderman played a leading role in the New York City garment workers upsurge of 1909-14 and was founder and president of Local 62, International Ladies Garment Workers Union(ILGWU)--Dry Goods Workers. After losing her bid for the presidency of the New York WTUL, she became in 1914 a national organizer for the ILGWU, but dissatisfied with the place of women in that union, returned to the WTUL in 1916. She became head of the NYWTUL in 1918, and later the national WTUL, holding both posts throughout the remainder of the WTUL's existence. After World War I her focus shifted to legislative reform (with the notable exception of her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment), and she drew close to the Democratic Party (and the American Labor Party) and established a friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. Schneiderman served on the National Recovery Administration's labor advisory board in 1934 (it's only female member), and as Secretary of New York State's Department of Labor 1933-44. She also served on the Advisory Council of the Women's Interest Section of the War Department Bureau during World War II. Her autobiography, All for One, was published in 1967.

Arrangement

The files are grouped into 1 series.

Folders are arranged topically.

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the images in this collection are group portraits showing members of the various labor organizations in which Schneiderman participated; some appear to have been gathered and used in Schneiderman's published autobiography, All for One. Especially notable are: the young Schneiderman speaking at a suffrage rally, Schneiderman with a WTUL parade float, individual studio portraits of WTUL leaders, some with handwritten inscriptions, the First International Congress of Working Women, the staff of the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, Eleanor Roosevelt with the WTUL leadership, an informal snapshot of Schneiderman with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a posed group shot of American Labor Party supporters (including Schneiderman), a series of 8 photographs of members of the Women's Army Corps (WACs) training during World War II, and a group photograph including Frances Perkins, Pauline Newman, Schneiderman, and ILGWU President, David Dubinsky at a dedication ceremony for a plaque honoring victims of the Triangle Fire on the 50th anniversary of their deaths. Others persons pictured (in portraits or in group photographs) include: Mary Anderson, Dorothy Bellance, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Margaret Bondfield, Hilda Boyle, Abraham Cahan, Elizabeth Christman, Jo Coffin, Mary Drier, Alice Henry, Freida Miller, Agnes Nestor, Leonora O'Reilly, Rose Pesotta, Margaret Drier Robins, Margaret Sanger, Jane Schneiderman (Rose Schneiderman's sister), Maude Schwartz, and Alice Smith.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives 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 by Rose Schneiderman between 1909 and 1962 are expected to enter the public domain in 2024.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Rose Schneiderman Photographs; PHOTOS 010; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Rose Schneiderman in 1962. The accession number associated with this gift is 1962.017.

Provenance

Separated from the Tamiment Library's Rose Schneiderman Papers.

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

Rose Schneiderman Papers (Tamiment 018)

Collection processed by

Processed by Mary Allison Farley

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:32:02 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from NP10 Schneiderman worksheet.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