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Title: |
A Stitch in Time: The Cleveland Garment Industry Collection |
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Repository: |
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722 http://www.wrhs.org |
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Creator: |
Western Reserve Historical Society |
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Dates: |
1919-2015 |
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Quantity: |
2.00 linear feet (2 containers, 1 oversize folder, and 1 volume) |
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Abstract: |
Cleveland, Ohio, played a prominent role in the garment industry in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the industry's decline a century later. Most of the owners of garment manufacturing firms in Cleveland, as throughout the United States, were owned by Jewish immigrants. The garment industry in Cleveland declined as a whole in the late twentieth century. In the early 2010s, the Western Reserve Historical Society began making efforts toward compiling the stories of the Cleveland garment industry through research and oral history interviews, culminating in a book and exhibition project titled A Stitch in Time: The Cleveland Garment Industry. The collection consists of budgets, correspondence, drafts, memoranda, newspaper clippings, notes, operating agreements, oral histories, orders, photographs, proposals, questionnaires, scrapbooks, and sketches pertaining to the planning, research, and implementation of the "Stitch in Time" project by the Western Reserve Historical Society. |
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Identification: |
MS 5425 |
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Location: |
closed stacks |
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Language: |
The records are in English |
Cleveland, Ohio, played a prominent role in the garment industry in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the industry's decline a century later. Most of the owners of garment manufacturing firms in Cleveland, as throughout the United States, were owned by Jewish immigrants and they often employed immigrants from east-central and southern Europe who came to the United States from the 1880s to the 1920s. Success in the garment industry propelled the Americanization of the Jewish community in the United States and helped pave the way for greater economic success. Makers of menswear, womenswear, knitwear, and uniforms were all represented in the Cleveland area.
Cleveland was a regional center of the industry, ranking in some sectors close to New York as a leading producer. Although
some companies continued to flourish during the Depression and continued after World War II, the garment industry in Cleveland
declined as a whole in the late twentieth century, as plants moved out of the area, closed, or were sold. Though local factors
played a role in the decline, the rise and fall of the ready-to-wear industry in Cleveland paralleled the growth and decline
of the industry nationwide. In the late 1990s Nancy Schwarz, curator of the Cleveland Jewish Archives at the Western Reserve
Historical Society, began collecting information and artifacts related to the industry. She was encouraged in these efforts
by many former owners of garment manufacturing firms, especially Marc Frisch, whose family owned Stone Knitting Mills and
Frisch Knitting Mills in the early twentieth century. Schwarz's efforts led to the idea of creating an exhibit or writing
a book on the history of the industry and its impact in Cleveland. That idea was not realized until 2015, with the publication
of A Stitch in Time: The Cleveland Garment Industry, written by Sean Martin. Marc Frisch and Gary Rand, whose family operated Ohio Knitting Mills, were instrumental in the completion
of the book and exhibit.
Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the garment industry
A Stitch in Time: The Cleveland Garment Industry Collection, 1919-2015 and undated, consists of budgets, correspondence, drafts, DVDs, memoranda, newspaper clippings, notes, operating agreements, oral histories, orders, photographs, proposals, questionnaires, scrapbooks, and sketches pertaining to the planning, research, and implementation of the "Stitch in Time" project by the Western Reserve Historical Society and to some local garment manufacturing firms.
This collection is of value to researchers interested in the development of the Cleveland garment industry and particularly in the research conducted by the Western Reserve Historical Society as part of the "Stitch in Time" project. The project focused on the history of Jewish immigrant families and the entrepreneurialism of some of these families in the growing garment industry in the United States. Those with an interest in the growth and decline of light manufacturing in the Cleveland area will find the collection of special interest. Specific subjects, companies, and families extensively covered by the research within this collection are as follows: Bradley Knitwear Corporation, Cashmere Corporation; H. E. Frisch Knitting Mills, Gottfried Dress Company, Lion Knitting Mills, Ohio Knitting Mills; the Floma Company; M & D Simon; as well as the Frisch, Korach, Lampl, Klineman, Saltzman, Dalton, and Feiss families, who were integral players in the garment industry.
None.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ____, Folder ____] MS 5425 A Stitch in Time: The Cleveland Garment Industry Collection, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gifts of Lou Lampl Butz in 2008; Marc Frisch in 2011; Ronnie Gottfried in 2012; Gary Rand in 2012; and Sean Martin in 2017.
Processed by Whitney Stalnaker and Patrick Basista in 2017.