Labor nonprofit donates archives to Kheel Center

A quarter-century of labor history will be preserved and available to researchers thanks to Jobs With Justice’s recent donation to the ILR School’s Kheel Center for Labor Management Documentation and Archives.

Jobs With Justice (JWJ), a nonprofit workers’ advocacy organization, will donate 55 boxes of archival materials from its 25-year history.

The collection will arrive at the Kheel Center this month and will likely grow in the future. It includes correspondence, minutes and reports; publications; oral history interviews; multimedia items; and other JWJ-generated material.

“We’re honored to have so much of our organizational history in Cornell’s archives. It’s a testament to years of cooperation and collaboration on the front lines of the fight for economic justice and a voice for all working people,” said Sarita Gupta, JWJ executive director. “I hope this collection serves as a resource for scholars and organizers, and as a catalyst for the next 25 years of conversation about labor in this country.”

JWJ’s archives will join the Kheel Center’s collections relating to industrial and labor relations, including rare and one-of-a-kind records of unions, government agencies, advocacy groups and labor scholars.

“We are thrilled to serve as the archives for Jobs With Justice. I think we all have a lot to learn about organizing and movement-building from JWJ’s first 25 years,” said Cheryl Beredo, director of the Kheel Center.

Beredo added that she anticipates faculty members will find the collection relevant to their research and teaching, including professors affiliated with the ILR School’s Worker Institute and scholars of labor and working-class history, immigration and other topics.

Gwen Glazer is the staff writer/editor for Cornell University Library.

Media Contact

John Carberry