National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City, into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City, into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of professional and non-professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Leon Julius Davis was born in Russia on November 21, 1907. He emigrated to the United States in 1921 and attended the Columbia School of Pharmacy (1927-1929), leaving to become a drugstore clerk. In 1932, he was a founder of the Pharmacists' Union of Greater New York and became an organizer in 1936 when the union became Local 1199 of the Retail Clerks International Association. 1199 disaffiliated with the A.F. of L. in 1937 and joined the CIO's United Retail Employees of America. In the following year, Davis participated in the founding of the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, with which 1199 subsequently affiliated and in which Davis became an international vice-president in 1955. In 1969, Davis was elected president of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, while retaining presidency of the New York Drug and Hospital Union, a post which he had held for the previous two decades. Davis retired from both positions in 1982.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of professional and non-professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

William Taylor, at the time of this interview, was an executive vice president of 1199.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Bayard Rustin, 1912-1987, was a civil rights activist and, at the time of this interview, served as president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; he also served as co-chairman of the Social Democrats U.S.A.; member of the Metropolitan Applied Research Center; and the League for Industrial Democracy.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Lillian Godoff is the widow of Elliott Godoff, who was the National Union's executive vice-president and director of organization until his death in 1975.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Doris Turner was a leader in the 1959 strike at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she worked in the dietary department. Two years later, she became a union organizer, participating in the early organizing drives of the national union, including the campaigns in Charleston, S.C. and Baltimore, Md. In 1969, Turner became a District 1199 executive vice-president and director of the union's largest division, the Hospital Division. At the time of this interview, she was serving as the National Union secretary, a post she had occupied since 1973. In 1982, Turner was elected president of District 1199.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Harry Van Arsdale is president of the New York City Central Labor Council.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Monsignor James Fitzpatrick has served as director of the Division of Health and Hospitals, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Brooklyn; moderator of the Catholic Physicians' Guild; vice president of Greater New York Hospital Association; vice president and director of the Hospital Council of Greater New York; member of the Mayor's Task Force on the Organization of Medical Services; member of the N.Y. State Hospital Review and Planning Council; and trustee of the American Hospital Association.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Monsignor James Fitzpatrick has served as director of the Division of Health and Hospitals, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Brooklyn; moderator of the Catholic Physicians' Guild; vice president of Greater New York Hospital Association; vice president and director of the Hospital Council of Greater New York; member of the Mayor's Task Force on the Organization of Medical Services; member of the N.Y. State Hospital Review and Planning Council; and trustee of the American Hospital Association.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Moe Foner, at the time of this interview, had been executive secretary of 1199 since 1964. Since 1953, Foner had headed the union's public relations, political, educational and cultural activities, as director of the union's Bread and Roses Project.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of professional and non-professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Michaelson, at the time of this interview, was an officer of Local 65 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and served as the union's representative on the New York City Central Labor Council.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

John Connorton, at the time of this interview, was director of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of professional and non-professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Robert Muehlenkamp, at the time of this interview, was the union's director of organization, a post he had held since Elliott Godoff's death in 1975. In 1979, he was elected executive vice-president of the union.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199) into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

A.H. Raskin is a journalist and was the labor editor of THE NEW YORK TIMES; adjunct professor, Graduate School of Business, Columbia; and a member of the Executive Board of the Industrial Relations Research Association.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local, representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), into an international union of non-professional and professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

At the time of these interviews, Henry Nicholas was secretary-treasurer of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. As an orderly at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Nicholas had been a leader in the 1959 New York City Hospital Workers Strike. Becoming a union organizer in the 1960's, he was active in the National Union's earliest organizing campaigns in New York City, Charleston, S.C., Ohio, Pittsburgh and Detroit. As president of District 1199C in Philadelphia since its founding in 1972, Nicholas was active in political and community affairs in that city. He has continued in that post since being elected secretary-treasurer of the National Union. In 1981, he was elected to succeed Leon Davis as president, making the National Union the largest AFL-CIO union ever headed by a black.

The unedited oral history interviews of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees discuss the evolution of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union drugstore local (known as Local 1199 and District 1199), representing pharmacists and drug clerks in New York City, into an international union of professional and non-professional workers in voluntary and non-profit health institutions, including hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, as well as drugstores.

Between 1933 and 1957, 1199 functioned as a drugstore local with its membership growing to 5,000 workers employed in independent and chain drugstores throughout the New York metropolitan area. With its success in organizing workers in Montefiore Hospital in New York City, the union began a massive campaign to organize workers in voluntary and non-profit hospitals in the New York area, a large proportion of whom were black or Hispanic.

In 1973, the national union was established with locals in other states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, South and North Carolina, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. The union combined organizing efforts with civil rights organizations, in an effort to achieve mutual political goals. Throughout the period discussed in these interviews, the union was led by Leon Davis (president, Local 1199 and the National Union) whose administration guided the union's political and social activities.