The Cooper Union has a rich history of hosting labor unions: from the first meeting of the Actor's Protective League (precursor to SAG-AFTRA) in 1864, to their members meetings during the 2023 strike; from the uproarious 1909 Garment Workers' Union meeting that sparked the ‘Uprising of the 20,000,’ to the quietly regular meetings of the Sanitation Workers Local 333 in the 1940s-50s. Throughout it all The Cooper Union Library has accumulated labor-related materials through the role that the institution has played in the surrounding community and acquired texts for courses taught at The Cooper Union.
This guide focuses specifically on organized labor resources you can access through The Cooper Union Library. This includes resources that cover the general history of organized labor; books by and about working people; and archival collections featuring specific unions. For information on what’s available elsewhere, we recommend the Library of Congress “Guide to Organized Labor Since the 19th Century” (guides.loc.gov/organized-labor) and our consortium’s Tamiment Library & Wagner Labor Archives (specialcollections.library.nyu.edu/search/tamiment).
... and many more!
