Abstract The SEIU District 925 Legacy Project, conducted 2005-2007, aimed through a series of oral history interviews to chronicle the organization’s 20-year history (1981-2001) and provide insight into the relationship between the women’s movement and organized labor, during a time of great social and technological change. The project gathered interviews from women, and some men, involved in the founding and growth of District 925 and its efforts, with the association 9to5, National Association of...

Abstract In 1973, Pat Ford, then a clerical worker at Alameda County Hospital, aided in the creation of Local 616 by affiliating the 4000-member association with SEIU. Ford held various leadership positions in Local 616, including president (the Local’s first African-American woman president), and Executive Director. In addition to Ford’s service to Local 616, in 1996 she was elected as SEIU Executive Vice President, and reelected in 2000. During her tenure with SEIU, Ford helped to found the Caucus of...

Abstract The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was founded in 1921 as a union of flat janitors. Over the years it has grown in size and scope, now comprising three divisions: healthcare, property services, and public services. While most of SEIU’s members reside in the United States, the SEIU is an international union with members and affiliates in countries all over the world. The records of SEIU’s International Affairs Department document the SEIU’s relationships with companies, unions,...