Sam Reiss Negatives

ArchivalResource

Sam Reiss Negatives

1946-1975

The Sam Reiss Photographic Negatives Collection is notable for its size (more than 120,000 black and white images in formats including 35mm, 120mm, 3x5, and 4x5) and breadth of coverage of 20th century labor unions and labor union-affiliated organizations (hundreds of unions, locals, and labor organizations), as well as the length of time it covers-the nearly 30 years between 1946 to 1975. It documents the face of organized labor in the New York City metropolitan area: mainly its institutionalized forms and quotidian administrative activities, but it also captures its broader community, and occasionally its historic moments, such as the such as the 1955 merger convention of the AFL-CIO. Prominent among Reiss' clients, and particularly well-represented in the Collection are images he shot for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; Transport Workers Union; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-Local 3; United Federation of Teachers; and the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Workers Union. The Collection also includes formal and informal portraits of local and national union leaders and personalities, including George Meany and Walter Reuther, Cesar Chavez, Michael Quill, Bessie Hillman, A. Philip Randolph, David Dubinsky, Eleanor Roosevelt, United Nations Secretary General U Thant, Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Senators John F. Kennedy, Hubert H. Humphrey, and Edward Kennedy, New York Representative Bella Abzug, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and Presidents Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. NOTE: This collection is housed offsite and advance notice is required for use.

145.37 Linear Feet

eng, Latn

Related Entities

There are 16 Entities related to this resource.

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pw7bg2 (corporateBody)

English. From the description of ACWA's Sidney Hillman Foundation Records. 1955-1974. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 520925303 From the description of ACTWU's National Textile Recruitment and Training Program Records. 1975-1981. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 520924922 Sidney Hillman, labor organizer, leader, and president, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Sidney Hillman was born in Russian-contr...

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s867ct (corporateBody)

The ILGWU Archives were established in 1973 and transferred to the Kheel Center in 1987. From the description of ILGWU. Charles Zimmerman Collection of Radical Pamphlets, 1898-1978. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 748341343 The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the most significant union representing workers in the men's clothing industry, was founded in New York City in 1914 as a breakaway movement from the United Garment Workers. Radic...

International brotherhood of teamsters, chauffeurs, stablemen, and helpers of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66r2nhm (corporateBody)

Labor organization formed in 1903 as International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the result of a merger between members of the Team Drivers' International Union (TDIU) and the Teamsters' National Union of America (TNU). Known from 1909 to 1992 as International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers. Reverted to its pre-1909 name in October 1992. From the description of International Brotherhood of Teamsters records, 1989-1992. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 709...

Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. Local 6 (New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dv677g (corporateBody)

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union, Local 6 (now affiliated with the international union, UNITE/HERE) represents housekeeping staff, waiters, bartenders and other categories of service employees in hotel, private clubs and restaurants in the New York City area. The local grew substantially as a result of a major organizing drive in the mid-1930s, under Local president Michael J. Obermeier, and absorbed a number of smaller locals of hotel employees over the years. Signific...

Transport Workers' Union of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wd7tk7 (corporateBody)

Much of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) history centers around the fiery figure of Michael Quill, President of the TWU from 1935 to 1966. Quill, born in Kilgarven, Ireland in 1905, started with the IRT subway as a ticket taker. It was only with the financial support of the Communist Party that Quill, together with Maurice Forge, Austin Hogan and Harry Sacher, was able to lead a successful organizing drive among New York City transit workers beginning in 1934. With Quill as President, the TWU o...

AFSCME

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6546bzq (corporateBody)

Charter granted 1936; full name: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. From the description of Office of the president collection, 1927-1962. (Wayne State University). WorldCat record id: 28419205 From the description of Office of the secretary-treasurer collection, 1926-1968. (Wayne State University). WorldCat record id: 28419214 ...

AFL-CIO. New York City Central Labor Council

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67x0d25 (corporateBody)

The AFL-CIO New York Central Labor Council (NYC CLC) had its origin in the Central Trades and Labor Council of Greater New York, a federation of New York City area unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The CTLC was chartered by the AFL in 1920 and existed until it merged with the New York City CIO Council in 1959. Harry Van Arsdale Jr., Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electricians Local 3, became president of the Council in 1957 and served in that office u...

International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jd8qgx (corporateBody)

United Furniture Workers of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64b83hh (corporateBody)

The United Furniture Workers of America was organized in 1937 by seceding factions of the Upholsterers' International Union of North America; the Furniture, Carpet, Linoleum and Awning Workers International Union of North America, and by independent organizations. From the description of United Furniture Workers of America records, 1943-1973. (Georgia State University). WorldCat record id: 38477513 Former members of the Upholsterers' International Union and others formed the...

American Veterans Committee

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68d3rq3 (corporateBody)

The American Veterans Committee (AVC) was an organization of American veterans that formed during World War II and disbanded in 2003. While many other veterans' groups represented veterans' interests during this period, AVC distinguished itself as an alternative veterans' organization with the motto "Citizens first, veterans second." Based in Washington, DC, with chapters across the country, the group advocated for peace and social justice for all Americans while also championing the needs of re...

Service Employees' International Union

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60w26p0 (corporateBody)

Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62n8xf1 (corporateBody)

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union. Local 20

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60k6pww (corporateBody)

Reiss, Sam.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6946rc9 (person)

Samuel Reiss was among the most prominent and prolific photographers of the labor movement in New York City from the late 1940s until his death in 1975. During the three decades that Reiss earned a living with his camera, he documented a changing work force in a changing city, building a reputation as "Labor's photographer." Week by week, throughout his career, Reiss made photographs that document New York's labor movement during its most active, influential, and progressive years. ...

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xs9phj (corporateBody)