ThoughtGallery.org > Oral History, Women’s Work, and the ILGWU’s Role in Immigration Reform

Oral History, Women’s Work, and the ILGWU’s Role in Immigration Reform

Join us at the Center for Women’s History for thrilling programs and intimate conversations with scholars, journalists, artists, activists, businesswomen, and more amazing leaders of today. Guided by its expert committee of scholars, the Center has a full calendar of public events and salons to explore.

With the creation of its Immigration Project in 1983, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) became the first union to create a program to advocate for immigrant workers. The ILGWU went on to play an important advocacy role  leading up to the passage of the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act (IRCA), enabling 2.7 million undocumented Americans to receive a pathway to legalization, a program commonly known as amnesty.

The Path Home: Immigrants Making America project has collected oral histories of both ILGWU staff members who assisted with IRCA’s passage and implementation and beneficiaries of IRCA’s amnesty program. This Center for Women’s History salon will present oral history excerpts and discuss the role of women in assisting with legalization and providing ESL and citizenship classes to empower formerly undocumented workers.

Speakers include former Immigration Project staff member May Chen; former educator Nancy Lorence; and IRCA beneficiary and retired ILGWU member Sagrario Mendez in a conversation moderated by LaborArts public historian Rachel Bernstein. Opening remarks will be made by former ILGWU Immigration Project Director Muzaffar Chishti.

Presented in conjunction with the installation Ladies’ Garments, Women’s Work, Women’s Activism.











When: Fri., Jun. 21, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Where: New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
212-873-3400
Price: $15
Buy tickets/get more info now
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Join us at the Center for Women’s History for thrilling programs and intimate conversations with scholars, journalists, artists, activists, businesswomen, and more amazing leaders of today. Guided by its expert committee of scholars, the Center has a full calendar of public events and salons to explore.

With the creation of its Immigration Project in 1983, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) became the first union to create a program to advocate for immigrant workers. The ILGWU went on to play an important advocacy role  leading up to the passage of the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act (IRCA), enabling 2.7 million undocumented Americans to receive a pathway to legalization, a program commonly known as amnesty.

The Path Home: Immigrants Making America project has collected oral histories of both ILGWU staff members who assisted with IRCA’s passage and implementation and beneficiaries of IRCA’s amnesty program. This Center for Women’s History salon will present oral history excerpts and discuss the role of women in assisting with legalization and providing ESL and citizenship classes to empower formerly undocumented workers.

Speakers include former Immigration Project staff member May Chen; former educator Nancy Lorence; and IRCA beneficiary and retired ILGWU member Sagrario Mendez in a conversation moderated by LaborArts public historian Rachel Bernstein. Opening remarks will be made by former ILGWU Immigration Project Director Muzaffar Chishti.

Presented in conjunction with the installation Ladies’ Garments, Women’s Work, Women’s Activism.

Buy tickets/get more info now