Blogs
Reuther Library at Wayne State University opens SEIU District 925 Oral history interviews for research
Posted August 11th, 2009 by ljones
in
Oral history interviews focusing on relationship between women’s movement and organized
labor donated to Wayne State University’s Walter P. Reuther Library
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 925 Legacy Project donated 47
transcribed oral history interviews and corresponding audiotapes to Wayne State
University’s Walter P. Reuther Library. These oral histories, which are now open for
research, chronicle the organization’s 20-year history and provide insight into the
relationship between the women’s movement and organized labor.
In 1975, SEIU partnered with members of 9to5, National Association of Working Women to organize office workers in Boston and created Local 925. Stakeholders expanded upon this idea in 1981 by forming SEIU District 925 in order to organize office workers into chapters throughout the country. District 925 dissolved in 2001 when it consolidated with other SEIU locals. While District 925 also organized men, the collective power of organized women is a unifying theme throughout the oral histories.
9to5, the association, and District 925, the union, used a variety of techniques to raise community consciousness about the issues facing women clerical workers. When 925 launched, office workers were one of the largest, lowest-paid, most-exploited and least-unionized segments of the nation’s workforce. The 1980 movie Nine to Five, starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman, drew from real life experiences of women clerical workers and touched millions of people on a comedic level with a serious message about workplace oppression. District 925 helped to legitimize “women’s issues” in the workplace as union issues. They organized women, propelled them into national leadership positions within the labor movement, tackled pay inequity, and addressed issues such as family and medical leave – all during a time of great social and technological change.
Union leaders Karen Nussbaum, Debbie Schneider, Kim Cook, Bonnie Ladin, Anne Hill and Ellen Cassedy, as well as activists such as Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Tom Hayden, are among the subjects of these oral histories. The donation of these transcripts to the Walter P. Reuther Library will add to the 925 Manuscript Collection that is already part of the Reuther’s holdings.
For more information, contact Alexandra Orchard.
Louis Jones, PhD, CA, is the Field Archivist for the Walter P. Reuther Library.
Exhibit — Bricks, Mortar and More
Posted April 2nd, 2009 by pneirink
The Reuther Library is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit: Bricks, Mortar and More: The Jewish Community and the Growth of Wayne State University. This exhibit honors the long partnership between the metro Detroit Jewish Community and the University as represented by the fifteen buildings on Wayne State's main and medical campuses that are named after the members of Detroit's Jewish Community that provided funds for their construction. read more »
Audiovisual Collections
Posted July 21st, 2008 by mwallace
The Audiovisual Collections at the Walter P. Reuther Library consist of still and moving photographic images, sound recordings, art work and artifacts. The collections focus on three major historical subject areas: American Labor, Metropolitan Detroit, and Wayne State University, and include materials pertaining to 20th century industrial unionism, social, political, and radical reform movements, civil rights, women in the workplace, and twentieth century Detroit history.
Ordering digital images or photographs:
To order digital images/photographs (or other media types) download the AV_Material_Permission_Fees_Order_Form below and email it back using this reutherreference@wayne.edu link. An AV Archivist will contact you with the specifics of your order. Refer to the Reproduction and Use fee Schedules attached to the Request Form below for pricing.
The Audiovisual Collections are open to the public by appointment only. AV Department research hours are: 9:30AM-12:00PM and 1:00PM-3:30PM.
To schedule an appointment please contact us at reutherav@wayne.edu.
Direct AudioVisual reference questions by emailing us at:
Library Collection
Posted July 21st, 2008 by kchinery
The non-manuscript holdings at the Reuther Library, also known as the Library Collection, contain more than 12,000 book and periodical titles, a substantial vertical file, published union convention proceedings and reports, union contracts and constitutions, pamphlets, and labor education materials. The collection scope includes materials related to 20th century American labor history, urban Detroit history, women in the workplace, radical organizations, and dissident union movements. Periodicals and dissertations that fall within the collection scope are regularly added to the Library Collection. Holdings in the Library Collection are non-circulating and are not available through interlibrary loan.
Bibliographic records on the secondary source holdings in the Periodicals and Publications Collection at the Walter P. Reuther Library are now available on-line. The collection includes pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, journals, union convention proceedings, and reports, and will include both print and microfilm materials. For the first time in the Reuther’s history, researchers will have online access to an extensive list of titles from labor unions, urban organizations, and political reform groups. To access the publications content begin to browse by clicking the link provided above or by performing a search. Please note that advanced searches may be used to filter results.
