On November 6, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the historic Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) into law. In addition to implementing stronger border security and penalties for employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers, the act created a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who had been in the country since 1982. IRCA ultimately granted legal status…

One of the great joys of doing public history in the digital age is making connections that might never have been possible without online publishing and social media. A few weeks back, we ran a post on Women at the Center titled “Look for the Union Label: A History of the ILGWU’s Iconic Jingle” in conjunction…

When we set out to curate a show on the history of women’s work and organizing in the garment industry, we started, as we always do, by digging through our own archives at the New-York Historical Society. Early on, we found a handful of giveaway items—”swag”—from the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) in our…

On February 22, the Center for Women’s History at New-York Historical Society unveiled Ladies’ Garments, Women’s Work, Women’s Activism. This special installation on our 4th Floor that highlights the work of women organizers in the garment trades and their role in shaping women’s movements across the 20th century. The exhibit offers brief glimpses into the lives of…