Clara Lemlich Papers
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Abstract
Clara Lemlich Shavelson (1886–1982) was a leader of the Uprising of 20,000, a massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry in 1909. Later blacklisted from the industry for her labor union work, she became a member of the Communist Party USA and a consumer activist in Brooklyn, New York. The Clara Lemlich Papers (dated 1909-1992) contain correspondence; clippings about Lemlich; a file on her death and commemoration; photocopies of a 1916 diary written in Russian and of a diary from a trip to the Soviet Union; Yiddish language clippings; a few brief writings by Lemlich; memorabilia; and photographs.
Biographical Note
Clara Lemlich Shavelson (1886–1982) was a leader of the Uprising of 20,000, a massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry in 1909. Born in the Ukraine to a Jewish family, she migrated to the U.S. in 1903. She became a garment worker and was elected to the executive board of Local 25 of the ILGWU (International Ladies' Garment Workers Union). After being blacklisted from the garment industry, she founded the Wage Earners League, a working class suffragist organization. In 1913, she married Joseph Shavelson and moved to Brooklyn. Around this time, she became a member of the Communist Party USA and a consumer activist in Brooklyn, New York. As an early and lifelong member of the Communist Party USA, in 1929, she founded the United Council of Working Class Women (UCWCW), which led a 1935 boycott of butcher shops to protest meat prices. The UCWCW later became the Progressive Women's Councils and was affiliated with the International Workers Order, a Communist-led ethnically based fraternal organization. After the dissolution of the IWO in 1952, Lemlich continued her activities in the Emma Lazarus Clubs, a Communist-led Jewish women's organization that she helped to found in the 1930s. Lemlich campaigned for unemployment relief, and later, tenants rights.
Arrangement
Papers are arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Contents
The Clara Lemlich Papers (dated 1909-1992) contain correspondence, including with Morris Schappes; clippings about Lemlich; a file on her death and commemoration including several issues of Jewish Currents; photocopies of a 1916 diary written in Russian and of a diary from a trip to the Soviet Union; notebooks; several topical files, including one on the Meat Boycott of 1935; Yiddish language clippings; a few brief writings by Lemlich; union membership cards; and memorabilia including two buttons featuring Lemlich and printed ephemera from the Emma Lazarus Clubs. The collection also includes photographs, principally of Lemlich and her family; and a few images from public events, some apparently dating to the 19th century.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (and related rights to publicity and privacy) to materials in this collection, created by Rita Margules, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Clara Lemlich Papers; TAM 577; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Rita Margules in 2011. The accession number associated with this gift is 2011.044.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processing decisions made prior to 2025 were not documented.
In May 2025, materials in Box 2 were rehoused into a new manuscript box. Some materials were rehoused into new archival folders. Original folder titles were maintained and dates were added, when available. Oversized materials housed in Box 2 were removed and placed into a shared oversized flat box, Shared Tamiment Box 198. The finding aid was updated to reflect these changes.
