Sewn in Coal Country
eBook - PDF

Sewn in Coal Country

An Oral History of the Ladies’ Garment Industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1945–1995

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Sewn in Coal Country

An Oral History of the Ladies’ Garment Industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1945–1995

About this book

By the mid-1930s, Pennsylvania's anthracite coal industry was facing a steady decline. Mining areas such as the Wyoming Valley around the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Pittston were full of willing workers (including women) who proved irresistibly attractive to New York City's "runaway shops"—ladies' apparel factories seeking lower labor and other costs. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) soon followed, and the Valley became a thriving hub of clothing production and union activity. This volume tells the story of the area's apparel industry through the voices of men and women who lived it.

Drawing from an archive of over sixty audio-recorded interviews within the Northeastern Pennsylvania Oral and Life History Collection, Sewn in Coal Country showcases sixteen stories told by workers, shop owners, union leaders, and others. The interview subjects recount the ILGWU-led movement to organize the shops, the conflicts between the district union and the national office in New York, the solidarity unionism approach of leader Min Matheson, the role of organized crime within the business, and the failed efforts to save the industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Robert P. Wolensky places the narratives in the larger context of American clothing manufacturing during the period and highlights their broader implications for the study of labor, gender, the working class, and oral history.

Highly readable and thoroughly enlightening, this significant contribution to the study of labor history and women's history will appeal to anyone interested in the relationships among workers, unions, management, and community; the effects of economic change on an area and its residents; the role of organized crime within the industry; and Pennsylvania history—especially the social history of industrialization and deindustrialization during the twentieth century.

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Yes, you can access Sewn in Coal Country by Robert P. Wolensky in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Fashion & Textile Industry. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. COVER front
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. List of Illustrations
  5. Preface
  6. Notes to Preface
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction: Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Garment Industry
  9. Notes to Introduction
  10. Chapter 1: Dorothy “Dot” Ney: Garment Worker, Union Organizer, and Business Agent
  11. Notes to Chapter 1
  12. Chapter 2: William “Bill” Cherkes: Garment Shop Owner and Garment Association President
  13. Notes to Chapter 2
  14. Chapter 3: Minnie “Min” Matheson: Labor Leader, Social Activist, and ILGWU District Manager
  15. Notes to Chapter 3
  16. Chapter 4: Angelo “Rusty” “Bill” DePasquale: Mineworker and ILGWU Organizer and “Enforcer”
  17. Notes to Chapter 4
  18. Chapter 5: Anthony “Tony” D’Angelo: Garment Presser and Barber
  19. Notes to Chapter 5
  20. Chapter 6: Alice Reca: Garment Worker, Union Organizer, and Business Agent
  21. Notes to Chapter 6
  22. Chapter 7: John “Johnny” Justin: Garment Worker, Labor Organizer, and ILGWU District Manager
  23. Notes to Chapter 7
  24. Chapter 8: Clementine “Clem” Lyons: Garment Worker, Business Agent, and Chorus Performer and Director
  25. Notes to Chapter 8
  26. Gallery
  27. Chapter 9: Helen Weiss: Garment Worker, Business Agent, and Chorus Performer
  28. Notes to Chapter 9
  29. Chapter 10: George and Lucy Zorgo: Union Printers and Labor Advocates
  30. Notes to Chapter 10
  31. Chapter 11: Philomena “Minnie” Caputo: Garment Worker, Union Activist, Chairlady, and Floorlady
  32. Notes to Chapter 11
  33. Chapter 12: Dr. Albert Schiowitz: Physician and Director of the Wyoming Valley ILGWU Health Center
  34. Notes to Chapter 12
  35. Chapter 13: Leo Gutstein: Family Garment Shop Owner and Garment Association President
  36. Notes to Chapter 13
  37. Chapter 14: Pearl Novak: Garment Worker, Union Organizer, and Social Activist
  38. Notes to Chapter 14
  39. Chapter 15: Betty Greenberg: Mother, Spouse, Activist, and the Mathesons’ Daughter
  40. Notes to Chapter 15
  41. Chapter 16: Labor, Working-Class,Gender, and Oral History
  42. Notes to Chapter 16
  43. Appendix 1
  44. Notes to Appendix 1
  45. Appendix 2
  46. Appendix 3
  47. Notes
  48. Bibliography
  49. Index