Much recent research has focused on the role of place in social organization and activity. An active debate has ensued regarding the relative importance of the residential community versus the workplace as sites for the establishment of class identity and the creation of conditions that encourage workers to organize labor unions. This doctoral dissertation research project will attempt to assess the role of work- and home-based activities in the success of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in New York City in the years before World War II. Through examination of archives containing papers from both unions and labor leaders, through analyses of other printed materials, and through interviews with labor and community leaders, the investigator will demonstrate how community-related programs played a crucial role in the unions' success and how abandonment of those programs contributed to the unions' decline after World War II. This research will provide detailed insights based on primary materials to clarify the nature of residential locales in the social process of union organization and activity. Although focusing on a case study, the analysis will provide a basis for comparison with studies of other organizations in other locales, thereby expanding general understandings of these important processes. This project also will provide an excellent opportunity for a promising graduate student to expand and refine her basic research skills.
