Inventory of the Textile Workers Union of America. South Region Records, 1947-1981

Collection Number 5103

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by

Laura Knodel

Date Processed

July 2003

Encoded by

Laura Knodel

Date Encoded

July 2003

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Textile Workers Union of America. South Region.

Title

Textile Workers Union of America. South Region Records, 1947-1981

Call Number

5103

Extent

About 4700 items (7.0 linear feet)

Abstract

Scott Hoyman was an organizer and a bargainer with the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA), serving as the Southern Regional Director in the 1960s and 1970s. The TWUA actively sought to organize southern textile plants to help workers achieve higher wages, health insurance, and other benefits, and to insure fair labor practices. This collection contains correspondence, reports, minutes, agendas, pro-union and anti-union handouts and flyers, clippings, pictures, and other materials related to Scott Hoyman's activities with the TWUA. Materials document the internal functions of the TWUA, such as meetings, conferences, elections, and funding; the union's work with various organizations, including the Federation of Textile Representatives (FTR), and the AFL-CIO; TWUA's merger with Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to become the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU); organizing campaigns in North Carolina and South Carolina, most notably the J. P. Stevens Campaign; staff training and education; organizing tactics; membership drives and figures; the union's policies on political and industrial issues; and trends and events in the textile industry. Notable subjects include biennial conventions, Chatham Manufacturing Company, Collins & Aikman Corporation, Erwin Cotton Mills, executive council meetings, the Federation of Textile Representatives, GARCO (General Asbestos and Rubber Division, Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc.), handouts and flyers, Harriet and Henderson Cotton Mills, J. P. Stevens & Co., Lone Star Textiles, outgoing mail, and southern staff conferences.

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Provenance

Received from Scott Hoyman and Michele Hoyman of Chapel Hill, N.C., in September 2002 (Acc. 99334).

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Textile Workers Union of America #5103, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.

Chatham Manufacturing Co. (Elkin, N.C.).

Clothing workers--Labor unions.

Clothing workers--North Carolina.

Clothing workers--South Carolina.

Collins & Aikman Corporation.

Erwin Cotton Mills.

Federation of Textile Representatives.

Harriet and Henderson Cotton Mills.

Hoyman, Scott.

J.P. Stevens & Co.

Labor unions--Officials and employees.

Labor unions--North Carolina.

Labor unions--Organizing.

Labor unions--South Carolina.

Lone Star Textiles, Inc.

Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc.

Textile industry--North Carolina.

Textile industry--South Carolina.

Textile workers--Labor unions.

Textile workers--North Carolina.

Textile workers--South Carolina.

Textile Workers Union of America.

Historical Note

In 1901, the United Textile Workers of America (UTW), was formed as an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In 1937, the Committee for Industrial Organization (later the Congress of Industrial Organizations or CIO) formed the Textile Workers Organizing Committee (TWOC). In 1939, locals from the TWOC and the UTW merged to form the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA). The TWUA led numerous organizing campaigns in the union-resistant South, desiring to help textile workers achieve higher wages, health insurance, and other benefits, and to insure fair labor practices. In 1976, the TWUA merged with another textile union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, to form the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU), which was affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

Scott Hoyman was an organizer and a bargainer with the TWUA, serving as the Southern Regional Director in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked on numerous organization and wage campaigns, including the J. P. Stevens & Co. campaign to organize workers and investigate unfair labor practices. Following the formation of the ACTWU in 1976, Hoyman became Executive Vice-President for the Textiles Division.

Collection Overview

Correspondence, reports, minutes, agendas, pro-union and anti-union handouts and flyers, clippings, pictures, and other materials related to Scott Hoyman's work as the Southern Regional Director of the Textiles Workers Union of America (TWUA) in the 1960s and 1970s. Materials document the internal functions of the TWUA, including meetings, conferences, elections, and funding; the union's work with various organizations, including the Federation of Textile Representatives (FTR) and the AFL-CIO; the 1976 TWUA's merger with Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to form the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU); organizing campaigns in North Carolina and South Carolina, most notably at J. P. Stevens & Co.; staff training and education; organizing tactics; membership drives and figures; the union's policies on political and industrial issues; and trends and events in the textile industry. Materials relate to biennial conventions, Chatham Manufacturing Company, Collins & Aikman Corporation, Erwin Cotton Mills, executive council meetings, the Federation of Textile Representatives, GARCO (General Asbestos and Rubber Division, Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc.), handouts and flyers, Harriet and Henderson Cotton Mills, J. P. Stevens & Co., Lone Star Textiles, outgoing mail, and southern staff conferences.

Materials received in folders labeled with subject titles were retained in that order. Other materials were placed in chronological order during processing. The collection, therefore, has both chronological and subject files, and both series contain related materials.

Organization of Collection

1. Chronological Files
2. Subject Files

Detailed Description of the Collection

Items Separated

Items separated include pictures (P-5103/1), oversized papers (OP-5103/1-2) and museum items (MU-5103/1-10).