Part I of this collection includes most of the material and was received in 1967. This part is organized into 15 series based on topic, type of record, or originating office. This first part dates 1928-1965 and totals 153 boxes. Box numbers begin at 1 with each of the 15 series so it is necessary to indicate the series number as well as the box number when requesting materials. The call number for this part is Mss 62. An overview of these materials is below; narrative descriptions of each series precede the box list for that series.
A second part consists of additional materials presented in 1976 and added to the collection in 1977; further materials were integrated into this part in 1990. The materials now comprising these 1977 additions date 1922-1961 and total 27 boxes. They consist of stenographic proceedings of annual conventions and monthly treasurers' reports. The call number for this part is Mss 410.
PART I: MATERIALS RECEIVED IN 1967 (Mss 62), 1928-1965
In addition to correspondence, the files included memoranda, telegrams, circulars, bulletins, news releases, clippings, arbitration decisions, wage and cost studies, convention calls, convention agenda, convention proceedings, convention reports, National Executive Committee minutes, labor management contracts, pension plans, health and accident insurance plans, actuarial data, newspapers, pamphlets, flyers, government publications, publications of other unions and organizations, and books.
Topics treated in the papers are related to organization and administration of the union, contracts and negotiations, job descriptions, wage rates, cost of living, pensions, health insurance, political action, housing, community affairs, foreign trade, and education.
Although incomplete, these files present a record of the union's activities in collective bargaining for the welfare of hosiery employes through a period which included the great depression, World War II and the Korea conflict. It was a period during which the hosiery industry and its workers were affected by the introduction of advanced technologies, style changes and customs, and by labor legislation.
No table of organization could be found for any period of the union's existence. It was evident that the union grew quite large over a period of thirty years and then declined. During that period offices and departments had been created, expanded, merged and discontinued. Examination of the papers, however, revealed many characteristics by which it was possible to reconstitute the files in relation to the functions performed by the union and its various offices during this period of expansion and contraction.
Identifying characteristics included folders and folder labels, forms, signatures, addresses, letterheads, topics, and functions of offices and departments. Though no tables of organization were discovered in the papers there were convention proceedings and reports and papers of the National Executive Committee. Further information was garnered from the union's newspaper, The Hosiery Worker, other publications and clippings.
A former member of the National Executive Committee and a member of the subcommittee on the merger with TWUA, Winston J. Bartels, came to help with identification of the files. A former vice-president of the union and the last General Secretary-Treasurer, Major Banachowicz, provided additional advice through telephone interviews. While neither of these former officials of the union could remember with certainty the dates at which various offices of the union had been established, merged, or discontinued, both were agreed that the present arrangement of the files is correct in purpose, function and continuity.
PART II: MATERIALS ADDED IN 1977 (Mss 410), 1922-1961
The 1977 additions consist of stenographic proceedings of annual conventions of the Hosiery Workers, together with monthly treasurers' reports of cash received and disbursed. Each set of proceedings is indexed to committee reports, resolutions, and the names of speakers. The mimeographed treasurers' reports are nearly complete for 1939 through September 1945, but fragmentary for the period 1950 to 1951.
