Abstract

Julie Schwartzberg is a public health advisor, and a founding member and the first co-chair of District Council 37's Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee (LAGIC). She had previously served as the vice president of AFSCME Local 768. Through her general organizing work and involvement in LAGIC specifically, Schwartzberg worked to support LGBTQ union members by "increasing their visability, affirming their dignity, and promoting a non-homophobic workplace environment." The Julie Schwartzberg Collection on the District Council 37 Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee documents the founding and activities of American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), District Council 37's Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee (LAGIC) to support LGBTQ union members. Materials in this collection include newsletters, correspondence, meeting minutes, notes, event flyers, and ephemera from LAGIC conferences. The collection documents LAGIC's early organizing work to be formally recognized by DC-37, community-building efforts, and network of coalition building, as well as Schwartzberg's appointment to the AFSCME Advisory Committee as a co-chair of LAGIC. The collection also includes files of general labor and other social justice issues about which members of LAGIC were interested, concerned, or working to support. The bulk of the collection documents LAGIC's early advocacy efforts to be formally recognized by DC-37. These materials include petitions, letters, flyers, agendas, meeting minutes, and speech drafts. LAGIC's community-building efforts and participation in national protests such as the 1993 March on Washington are also strongly documented in this collection. Event materials demonstrate LAGIC's intersectional approach to its organizing, and include flyers for events specific to celebrating the lives of Black and Latinx workers, and support for self-defense and support teams in response to a rash of violence against women in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Flyers, correspondence, budgets, and other planning materials document the various local committees' activities, including protests, social events, and local and national conferences specific to LGBTQ workers.