Illustration from the fifteenth anniversary journal of the Italian Dressmakers’ Union, Local 89 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’s Union, 1934.  For much of the 20th century, New York City’s garment industry provided jobs for immigrants — from Eastern European Jews and Italians, many of whom arrived with tailoring skills, to the more recent waves of Asian and Hispanic workers.

See the booklet cover Pins and Needles Vocal Selections, containing songs from the musical, with words and music written by Harold Rome in 1937.

See also the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union exhibit: The ILGWU: Social Unionism in Action.

Image from Ultra: strenna commemorativa del XV anniversario della Foundazione della Italian Dressmakers Union, Locale 89 (New York:  Italian Labor Education Board, 1934, page 48a), NYU Tamiment Library.