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Collection Data
- Description
- Fannia M. Cohn (ca. 1885-1962) was a labor official and educator. The papers document her career as an official of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
- Names
- Cohn, Fannia M. (Fannia Mary), 1885- (Creator)
- Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938 (Contributor)
- Dubinsky, David, 1892-1982 (Contributor)
- Kennedy, William, 1928- (Contributor)
- Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940 (Contributor)
- Muste, A. J. (Abraham John), 1885-1967 (Contributor)
- Preston, Evelyn (Contributor)
- Randolph, A. Philip (Asa Philip), 1889-1979 (Contributor)
- Seidman, Joel, 1906-1977 (Contributor)
- Sigman, Morris, 1880-1931 (Contributor)
- Swerdlow, Irwin (Contributor)
- Thomas, Norman, 1884-1968 (Contributor)
- Van Doren, Carl, 1885-1950 (Contributor)
- Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940 (Contributor)
- Wolfson, Theresa, 1897-1972 (Contributor)
- Brookwood Labor College (Katonah, N.Y.) (Contributor)
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Educational Department (Contributor)
- Manumit School for Workers' Children (Pawling, N.Y.) (Contributor)
- Pioneer Youth of America (Contributor)
- Workers Education Bureau of America (Contributor)
- International Conference on Workers' Education (Contributor)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1914 - 1962
- Library locations
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Shelf locator: MssCol 588
- Topics
- Cohn, Fannia M. (Fannia Mary), 1885-
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- Labor unions -- Clothing workers -- United States
- Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- United States
- Labor movement -- United States
- Women -- Employment -- United States
- Working class -- Education -- United States
- Genres
- Correspondence
- Documents
- Photographs
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: Fannia Cohn, labor educator and leader, was born in 1885 or 1888 in Russia to a middle-class Jewish family. In 1904 she emigrated to the United States, and in 1909 she began her life-long career with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union as a member of the Executive Board of the Wrapper, Kimono, and Housedress Makers Local 41. From approximately 1914-1916 Cohn lived in Chicago, working as a general organizer for the ILGWU. In 1916 Cohn returned to New York as the ILGWU's Vice-President. She was the first woman ever to hold that post, and she retained it until 1925.
Throughout her life she played an important role in worker education. From 1918 until her retirement in 1962, Cohn was the Executive Secretary of the ILGWU Educational Department. Under her leadership the union provided educational, cultural, and recreational services to members, and the ILGWU Educational Department grew to become the largest union education department in the country. Throughout her career, Cohn lectured and published on workers' education and the role of women in the labor movement.
Cohn's career had many notable highlights. Cohn was a co-founder, in 1921, of the Workers' Education Bureau, a clearinghouse for workers' education programs absorbed in the 40's by the American Federation of Labor. Also in 1921, she helped to found Brookwood Labor College, a residential college for workers in Katonah, New York. In 1924 she helped to found both the Manumit School for Workers' Children in Pawling, New York, and the Pioneer Youth of America. Throughout her life, Cohn was also active in many other labor, education, Jewish organizations. Cohn retired from the ILGWU in August, 1962, and died soon after.
- Content: The three largest series in this collection of Cohn's papers are Correspondence, Writings, and ILGWU. The Correspondence series contains letters written and received by Cohn. The Writings series contains typescripts of many of Cohn's speeches, articles, plays, and other writings. The ILGWU series documents the activities of the some ILGWU officers, and has a good amount of material on the ILGWU Education Department. Only small amounts of material document the activities of the Workers' Education Bureau, Brookwood Labor College, the Manumit School for Workers' Children, and Pioneer Youth of America, in all of which Cohn was active.
These papers contain a relatively small and random sample of the much larger number of letters and documents which must have crossed Cohn's desk during her long and active professional career.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 15 boxes, 13 reels, 1 oversize folder 6.9 linear feet
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Sound recording
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12094214
- MSS Unit ID: 588
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 1d0fa750-eb82-013e-0033-0242ac110002
