United Textile Workers of America, Local 2598 (Enka, N.C.) records

Collection

Identifier: L1981-10

Staff Only
Not requestable

Scope and Content of the Records

The Records, 1940-1941, 1949-1950, of Local 2598 of the United Textile Workers of America consist of newsclippings, a financial statement, and a list of workers who signed CIO cards at the Enka, NC, Enka Rayon Corporation. Local 2598 organized the Enka plant in 1941, and struck the plant in 1949 when contract negotiations failed.

Dates

Creation: 1940-1941, 1949-1950

Creator

United Textile Workers of America. Local 2598 (Enka, N.C.) (Organization)

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research use.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.

Historical Note

Local 2598 represented workers at the American Enka Company located near Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1928 as a subsidiary of a Dutch textile firm, American Enka was an industry leader in producing rayon and nylon. in September 1939, Textile Workers Union Local 22129, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL), was chartered. In 1940, the local won a National Labor Relations Board ruling against American Enka and held its first election. In 1945, the union became Local 2598 of the AFL's United Textile Workers of America (UTWA). In 1996, UTWA merged with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and the local was designated UFWC Local 2598T.

During the 1960s, American Enka flourished, with several plants around the United States and about 7,000 employees at the facility near Asheville. Subsequently, the business eroded and American Enka was owned by a number of international holding companies during the 1980s into the 2000s. By the 2010s, around 200 members of UFCW 2598T were still employed in the old Enka plant near Asheville to make an element of industrial carpet.

Extent

38 Item(s) (12 pages of photocopied newsclippings and 26 scrapbook pages with newsclippings and leaflets attached. All oversized.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Records, 1940-1941, 1949-1950, of Local 2598 of the United Textile Workers of America consist of newsclippings, a financial statement, and a list of workers who signed CIO cards at the Enka, NC, Enka Rayon Corporation. Local 2598 represented workers at the American Enka Company located near Asheville, North Carolina.

Acquisition Information

Donated by the United Textile Workers of America, Local 2598, courtesy of Joe T. Jones, May 27, 1981.

Related Materials

The Southern Labor Archives contains numerous collections created by various unions representing workers in the textile industry. These collections include union records from the International Ladies Garment Workers (ILGWU), Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers (ACTWU), United Textile Workers of America (UTWA), Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA), Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Workers (UNITE), and its successors UNITE HERE and Workers United.

Processing Information

Processed by Robert Dinwiddie at the file level, June 1981. This collection guide was created from a legacy finding aid. The inventory's contents and storage locations of separated materials (if applicable) were not verified at that time.