The Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Address

New York University - Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South 2nd Floor
New York
New York
NY 10012
United States

Phone

+1 212 998 2630

History

The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University form a unique, internationally-known center for scholarly research on Labor and the Left. The primary focus is the complex relationship between trade unionism and progressive politics and how this evolved over time. Archival, print, photograph, film, and oral history collections describe the history of the labor movement and how it related to the broader struggle for economic, social, and political change.

In 1977 the Robert F. Wagner Archives was established as a joint program of the New York City Central Labor Council and the Tamiment Library. The Wagner is the designated repository for the records of the Council's more than 200 member unions. Today the Library has an extraordinary research collection documenting the history of organized labor in New York and the workers who built the City.

Tamiment has one of the finest research collections in the country documenting the history of radical politics: socialism, communism, anarchism, utopian experiments, the cultural left, the New Left, and the struggle for civil rights and civil liberties. It is the repository for the Archives of Irish America, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, and a growing Asian American labor collection.

Records Management and Collecting Policies

Tamiment's archival collections, manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, films, videotapes, books, serials, and pamphlets document the history of labor, socialism, communism, anarchism, utopian experiments, the New Left, and the post-New Left as well as the social and cultural contexts in which these movements functioned.

Finding Aids, Guides, and Publication

The Tamiment Library created a list of archival collections at the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. In the list, links are provided to detailed guides (for processed collections) or brief guides or brief descriptions (for many unprocessed collections). For some collections inventories or guides exist but are not yet available in electronic form; copies of these can be obtained from Tamiment staff, as indicated.

The Tamiment Library Research Guides & Tools site will help you identify tools and resources to use the Tamiment Library's collections effectively. The library catalog, collections list, finding aids search, reference books, indexes, and other resources listed here will help you navigate through the library's holdings, find background information, and put your topic in context.

Opening Times

Monday - Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sunday: Closed

Conditions of Access

The Tamiment Library is open to the public. Researchers who are unaffiliated with New York University must present a valid photo ID at the Library Privileges window just inside the front door of Bobst Library to receive a day pass to visit Tamiment on the 10th floor of the building. Once in Tamiment, they must register and show a valid photo ID to use the Library's collections.

Sources

If you can help improve this information please contact us at feedback@ehri-project.eu.