203:(NWTUL), an organization established in 1903, launched a training school for women organizers, a year-long program combining academics and field work. New York ILGWU leader Cohn was one of the first three chosen to attend the program in Chicago. In 1915, she was asked by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union to organize Chicago dressmakers and in doing so founded ILGWU Local No. 59. In connection with this activity, Cohn was a key leader of a major strike of Chicago garment workers which began late in 1915 and continued into the following year, serving as a general organizer for the ILGWU.
31:
520:
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279:(CPPA), a group envisioned as an umbrella organization of progressive political and trade union activists leading towards the establishment of a labor party in the United States. Cohn was elected a member of the National Committee of the CPPA. Despite the failure of that organization to survive beyond 1925, Cohn remained active in left wing politics at least through the 1940s as a member of the
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rebellion as well as her failure to condemn it and would thus be castigated and ostracized from all fronts – including the militants she inspired. Cut off by union leaders, Cohn later channelled her activism into education, as she fostered some of the country's prominent scholars as allies and even teachers in her workers education courses.
214:
In 1918 Cohn took the leadership of the ILGWU's
Education Committee, and eventually rose to become Vice President of the union. After being elected as the first female vice president of ILGWU, Fannia Cohn continued to pioneer and promote an image of the labor movement that integrated education as
183:
rather than relying upon a male-dominated centralized union bureaucracy for the settlement of labor disputes. They employed this outlook to bridge the ethnic gaps amongst worker in the white goods trade, finding a leader amongst the women of different ethnicities who could speak to the workers in
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In the wake of this new educational reform, women within the union began to militantly mobilize due to their growing discontent with the ILGWU leadership and in turn, jumpstarted a rebellion that consequently crippled the union’s infrastructure. As a result, Fannia Cohn would be blamed for this
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and was elected to the
Executive Board of the local in 1909 at the young age of 24. She was elected Chair of the Executive Board in 1913 and remained in that position until 1914. During the years 1912 and 1913 Cohn played a prominent role as a leader of the strike movement of New York City's
174:
In 1906 Fannia began her efforts to organize workers in the white goods trade. Organizing this particular trade was difficult because workers within it were of various nationalities and spoke different languages. During a 1908 strike of household linen makers, Cohn met
125:. She was the fourth of five children of a successful owner of a flour mill and his wife. Fannia received an education in private schools, with her parents encouraging their daughter to read extensively.
215:
well as personal growth. Cohn, soon after her promotion, lobbied for the establishment of an
Education Department within the union and subsequently, served as secretary upon its launch.
763:
Brian Dolber, "Sweating for
Democracy: Working Class Media and the Struggle for 'Hegemonic Jewishness,' 1919-1941." PhD dissertation. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2011.
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684:
Workers' Education in the World Crisis: A Discussion at the Annual
Conference of the American Association for Adult Education on May 21, 1940, at the Hotel Astor, New York.
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In 1932 Cohn was named a vice president of
Brookwood Labor College, a position in which she remained until 1937. During her time at Brookwood, Cohn served as a mentor to
880:
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The
Educational Work of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union: Report Submitted to the Conference of the Worker's Education Bureau of America, April 2, 1921.
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870:
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237:. She would serve as a director of Brookwood until 1933, also sitting on the board of Brookwood's Labor Publication Society, publisher of the magazine
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Fannia Cohn retired from trade union affairs in 1961. She died in New York City on
December 24, 1962. She was 77 years old at the time of her death.
179:, with whom she became closely associated. Both Cohn and Schneiderman believed in the efficacy of recruiting female strike leaders from the union
167:. Cohn decided against further formal education in 1905, instead taking a job as a garment worker in order to participate directly in the
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92:(ILGWU) during the first half of the 20th century. She is remembered as one of the pioneers of the workers' education movement in the
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875:
860:
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790:: Three groups of documents, including correspondence, writings (articles, speeches, plays, etc.) and ILGWU-related documents
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A New Era Opens for Labor
Education: Discussion at the Workers' Education Bureau Conference, October 2, 1933, Washington, DC.
464:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY. Collection 5780/049.
406:
Orelck, Annelise (2017). "Coming of Age: The Shock of the Shops and the Dawning of Political Consciousness, 1900-1909".
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In 1916 Cohn was elected as the first female vice president of the ILGWU. She would serve in this capacity until 1925.
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Report of First International Conference on Workers' Education held in Brussels, Belgium, August 16th and 17th, 1922.
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Common Sense and a Little Fire, Second Edition: Women and Working-Class Politics in the United States, 1900-1965
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History: Fiction or Fact: What is Workers' Education, Including Suggestions for Teachers in Workers' Classes.
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in 1922. She served in a similar capacity at the 2nd International Conference on Workers' Education, held in
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their own language and cultivating her organizing talents. This strategy was successful and by 1909 the
855:
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260:, in 1919. She was also a delegate to the 1st International Conference on Workers' Education, held in
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Cohn was radicalized during her teenaged years in the Tsarist empire. At the age of 16 she joined the
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All Together Different: Yiddish Socialists, Garment Workers, and the Labor Roots of Multiculturalism.
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The Uprising of the Sixty Thousand: The General Strike of the Dressmakers' Union, August 16, 1933.
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Common Sense and a Little Fire: Women and Working-Class Politics in the United States, 1900-1965.
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Fannia Cohn was selected as an American delegate to the International Women's Conference held in
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Method and Approach in a Discussion of the Economics of the Garment Industry for Young Workers.
343:"Fannia Mary Cohn: An Educational Leader in Labor and Workers' Education, Her Life and Times,"
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The Women's Garment Workers: A History of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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Breaking New Ground: The Development of Adult and Workers' Education in North America.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1948.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1947.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1947.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1946.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1945.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1939.
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New York: Educational Department, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1938.
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With Spencer Miller. New York: Workers Education Bureau of America, n.d. .
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Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Kellogg Project, Nov. 1990; pp. 174-192.
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New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts – Fannia M. Cohn Papers
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Tailor's Progress: The Story of a Famous Union and the Men Who Made It.
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Woman's Eternal Struggle: What Workers Education Will Do for Woman.
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Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995; pg. 23.
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Fannia Cohn and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
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Adult Labor Education in a Troubled World: A Guide for Teachers.
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Learn - Play - Act: A Program of Progressive Workers' Education.
159:, spurring Fannia to emigrate to the United States. Arriving in
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and as a prolific author on the theme of trade union education.
88:(April 5, 1885 – December 24, 1962) was a leading figure in the
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Belarusian-born Jewish American trade union educator (1885-1962)
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New York: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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New York: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, n.d. .
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New York: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1958.
462:"Guide to the ILGWU Education Department Fannia Cohn papers,"
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796:: Documentation of her work at the ILGWU from 1918 to 1961.
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The Workers Education Bureau — An Arm of the Labor Movement.
248:, the first African-American labor organizer in the ILGWU.
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PhD dissertation. University of Southern California, 1976.
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New York: American Association for Adult Education, 1940.
410:. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 31–50.
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Fannia Mary Cohn was born on April 5, 1885, to an ethnic
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Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
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We Kept Our Faith: A Memorial to Our Triangle Victims.
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in 1924, an initiative associated with labor educator
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New York: Workers Education Bureau of America, n.d. .
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Marie Tedesco, "Fannia Cohn," in Gary M. Fink (ed.),
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New York: Workers Education Bureau of America, 1946.
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New York: Workers Education Bureau of America, 1943.
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New York: Workers Education Bureau of America, 1935.
188:(ILGWU) recognized the white goods' worker's union.
475:
Encyclopedia of US Labor and Working-Class History.
374:Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole,
191:Fannia helped to organize Local 24 of the ILGWU in
881:International Ladies Garment Workers Union leaders
325:New York: New York University Press, 2011; pg. 49.
714:UNESCO: Its Objectives and How to Implement Them.
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696:Facing the Future: Where Do We Go from Here? ...
794:ILGWU Education Department – Fannia Cohn Papers
732:Workers' Education: The Dream and the Reality.
222:Cohn was instrumental in the formation of the
708:Organized Labor's Contribution to the Nation.
452:Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984; pg. 159.
136:movement of the 1870s. She was active in the
851:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
186:International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
152:In 1904 her brother was nearly killed in an
90:International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
548:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
277:Conference for Progressive Political Action
144:political party, for the next three years.
656:New York: Workers Education Bureau, n.d. .
450:Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.
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871:Members of the Socialist Party of America
866:Socialist Revolutionary Party politicians
777:New York: Doubleday, Doran and Co., 1944.
568:Learn how and when to remove this message
499:Marion Dickerman and Ruth Taylor (eds.),
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690:Workers' Education in War and Peace.
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35:Fannia Cohn, from a 1915 publication
648:Action Based on Knowledge is Power.
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201:National Women's Trade Union League
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341:Huey B. Long and Constance Lawry,
275:In 1924 Cohn became active in the
252:Conferences and political activity
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726:Philosophy of Workers' Education.
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171:labor movement of New York City.
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702:Labor Unions and the Community.
594:Winning Workingmen to Unionism.
281:League for Industrial Democracy
381:
104:
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770:New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1924.
140:section of the PSR, a secret
130:Socialist Revolutionary Party
79:Labor organizer, union leader
876:American trade union leaders
861:Activists from New York City
836:Jews from the Russian Empire
294:
99:
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678:Why is Our Union Different?
352:in Rae Wahl Rohfeld (ed.),
196:organized garment workers.
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897:
756:Ricki Carole Myers Cohen,
229:Cohn was a co-founder of
165:Socialist Party of America
672:Progressives Must Choose.
376:American Labor Who's Who.
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636:Working Women in Action.
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810:Organized labour portal
746:Los Angeles: n.p., n.d.
744:Why Workers' Education?
422:All Together Different,
231:Brookwood Labor College
163:, Cohn soon joined the
618:Social Responsibility.
70:New York, New York, US
662:New York: n.p., 1937.
644:New York: n.p., 1936.
638:New York: n.p., 1936.
632:New York: n.p., 1936.
148:Emigration to America
542:improve this section
773:Benjamin Stolberg,
501:Who's Who in Labor.
121:, then part of the
728:n.c.: n.p., n.d. .
348:2010-06-12 at the
210:Workers' education
856:Jewish socialists
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51:May 5, 1885
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47:1885-05-05
529:does not
295:Footnotes
240:Labor Age
226:in 1921.
100:Biography
346:Archived
262:Brussels
193:Brooklyn
134:Narodnik
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424:pg. 48.
266:Belgium
119:Belarus
420:Katz,
157:pogrom
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111:Jewish
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138:Minsk
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