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Remley, Zita Donegan (audio interview #2 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This the second of six interviews conducted with Zita Remley over the course of two years. This interview was conducted three months after the previous interview as part of a women's oral history course. Due to equipment problems, this interview session is very short (approximately 17 minutes). Two days later, a third session was held. 7/14/1976
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- 2021-03-18
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- *** File: refzremley3.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-10:55)... When Remley's maternal grandmother died in childbirth, Remley's mother raised the family (seven children), and after she married she brought three siblings from Illinois to North Platte to care for them. Her schooling stopped at 8th grade, but she educated herself. A nearly flawless speller, she won contests all over the state. She read widely, wrote poetry, and was keenly interested in current events and politics. She also agitated for women's suffrage. She wrote a poem about every member of Remley's graduating class. Her sewing was almost tailor quality and she always made the family clothes as well as comforters out of old clothing, and taught her daughter how to do it. (10:55-16:55)... For years Remley's mother was an officer in the Maccabees, a self-insurance and social society, whose annual dance was a big event. among many country dances in area [Editor's note: it was probably Ladies of the Maccabees]. She founded the North Platte chapter of the Illinois Society, became a charter member of American Legion and VFW (named after her son, Noel, killed in France). She gave big parties (with Japanese lanterns) and ice cream socials in the big house and yard, which raised money for her organizations. End of tape
- SUBJECT BIO - Zita Donegan Remley was an influential figure in California Democratic party politics, and was called upon regularly to organize and coordinate election campaigns. One of eight children, Remley was born in North Platte, Nebraska to a family who engaged actively in political discussions and participated regularly in Chautaquas. Her mother was an advocate of women's rights and typified progressive era reform women activists. After her Catholic school education, Remley attended the University of Nebraska. During a summer break, she met a group of school teachers who were selling Chautaqua desks and, in short order joined them, working as a traveling saleswoman. She rose in the ranks of the company and transferred herself to Los Angeles in 1925 in order to be close to her future husband. Remley became involved in politics in 1925 while living in Carlsbad, working hard for the election of Al Smith and then, in 1934, both for John Steven McGroarty, an advocate of the Townsend Plan and for Upton Sinclair. When she moved to Alhambra in 1936, she volunteered for Jerry Voorhees and became his district manager after he won the election. She worked for Voorhees until his defeat by Richard Nixon in 1946; organized the 12th District Council, which became the model in 1958 for the California Democratic Council (CDC); and was elected to serve on the Democratic Party County Committee, State Committee and Executive Board. In 1950, Remley ran Helen Gahagan Douglas's unsuccessful campaign for Senate; and in 1958 worked on the campaigns of Alan Cranston and Stanley Mosk and was recruited by the AFL/CIO State Federation to organize the campaign to defeat a "Right to Work" ballot measure. After following her husband to San Francisco in 1960, she was called on to serve as the secretary-treasurer of the Adlai Stevenson campaign in California. In addition to these campaigns, Remley worked for local Long Beach politicians while she lived there and organized the Democratic club there. Among her other organizing activities and accomplishments, Remley co-founded and chaired the Democratic Women's Forum, an organization devoted to supporting women's participation in politics and running for office. TOPICS - mother's education and activities;
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