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Steinholtz, Mollie (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews recorded with Mollie Steinholtz in her home in Hollywood which she now shares with her sister-in-law. She has lived there since since moving to California in the late 1940s. She was introduced to the interviewer by her granddaughter and seemed more than eager to tell her story. The interviewer was frustrated at times trying to keep Steinholtz on topic, and because she often jumped from one period of her life to another, it was sometimes hard to establish a time frame. She also notes some inconsistencies with regard to dates. TOPICS - family background; schooling; garment work in Russia; immigration; trip to Chicago; living arrangements; Hart, Schaffner & Marx; wages and hours; ACWA; chairlady position at Hart, Schaffner & Marx; work environment; English classes; wages; organizing shops; dating and engagement;engagement and wedding; immigration arrangements; anti-Semitism, Russia; religion practices; family history; family life; siblings; Hebrew school; childhood activities; clothing; housing and living conditions; household responsibilities; and description of community; 2/20/1974
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- SUBJECT BIO - Mollie Steinholtz became a grass roots ACWA union organizer almost as soon as she arrived in Chicago in 1913 and went to work at Hart, Schaffner & Marx. She continued to try to organize fellow workers at each place where worked, until she married and left the garment industry in 1923. Born in Sebezh, Russia, near the Latvian border, Steinholtz is the fourth of twelve children. [Note; her birth date on her travel documents is noted as 1898, but that might have been to make her older. It seems that she was actually born in 1899.] She went to Hebrew School for two years and then to Russian school for another two years after which she went to work as an apprentice to a dressmaker. After two years apprenticeship, worked briefly in a garment factory and lived with an aunt, until her mother called her home when she was about to give birth to her last child. Steinholtz emigrated in 1913, joining two of her older siblings in Chicago. After being hospitalized during the influenza epidemic, from 1918 to 1922, she worked at various non-union shops, which she attempted to organize. By the time she married in 1923, she was out of work, and did not return to garment industry again. Instead, she and her husband opened up a cleaners in River Forest, Illinois and stayed there until they moved to California in 1947. Steinholtz was interviewed by a student in a women's oral history class at UCLA in collaboration with the Feminist History Research Project, under the direction of Sherna Berger Gluck. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews recorded with Mollie Steinholtz in her home in Hollywood which she now shares with her sister-in-law. She has lived there since since moving to California in the late 1940s. She was introduced to the interviewer by her granddaughter and seemed more than eager to tell her story. The interviewer was frustrated at times trying to keep Steinholtz on topic, and because she often jumped from one period of her life to another, it was sometimes hard to establish a time frame. She also notes some inconsistencies with regard to dates. TOPICS - family background; schooling; garment work in Russia; immigration; trip to Chicago; living arrangements; Hart, Schaffner & Marx; wages and hours; ACWA; chairlady position at Hart, Schaffner & Marx; work environment; English classes; wages; organizing shops; dating and engagement;engagement and wedding; immigration arrangements; anti-Semitism, Russia; religion practices; family history; family life; siblings; Hebrew school; childhood activities; clothing; housing and living conditions; household responsibilities; and description of community;
- File: lhgwmsteinholtz1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:21)... Steinholtz was born in Russia in September 26, 1898. When her parents (who she names in both Yiddish and English) immigrated to the US, their last name was changed to Kaplan. (2:21-3:30)... Steinholtz's father was a carpenter, and although he had little formal education, he was a skilled craftsmen, designing and building custom wood products for people and professional organizations in the community. After Steinholtz was born, he went to work for a hospital repairing furniture. He spoke both Hebrew and Russian [Editor's note: It is more likely that he spoke Yiddish rather than Hebrew. Hebrew was not the vernacular language in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.] (3:30-5:02)... Parents typically did not send their children to school until they were seven years old. Steinholtz was sent to a Hebrew school and after she graduated, when she was nine, she attended a Russian school for the next two years. (5:02-7:41)... When Steinholtz was eleven, she apprenticed to a dressmaker doing odd jobs. She was not paid for her work, but was taught how to sew. Two years later, she left this job and was hired at a dressmaking shop. Shortly afterwards, she was sent to live with her fraternal aunt in a town twenty miles away. She returned home approximately eight months later because her mother was ill. When she got home, Steinholtz learned that her mother was pregnant with her twelfth child. Steinholtz had six brothers and five sisters. (7:41-11:33)... Note: there is an interruption in the interview as Steinholtz pauses to speak to someone in the house. When her older brother (Harry) was seventeen, he left carpentry school and immigrated to America. In 1912, her older sister followed. Her brother and sister settled in Chicago and rented an apartment together. (11:33-19:59)... In 1913, Steinholtz and her brother, Myer, made arrangements with their siblings in Chicago to immigrate. They hired an agent to escort them across the Russian border into Germany; they boarded a ship in Bremen and began the thirteen-day journey to the US. Her brother became very seasick along the way and was bedridden for three or four days. She made friends with the young passengers on board and found the passage enjoyable. (19:59-26:48)... Steinholtz and her brother were quarantined on Ellis Island for six days. Their uncle, uncle who had fled Russia in the early 1900s to avoid conscription, attempted to take custody of them, but for reasons that were unclear, he was not allowed to take them off the island. He gave her five dollars which she used to purchase food for their trip to Chicago; and therr brother in Chicago sent $50 as proof of support and train fare. They traveled to Chicago with friends they made on Ellis Island. She describes the trip as a joyous occasion, during which they sang and entertained each other. They arrived in Chicago on July 28, 1913. (26:48-29:51)... Steinholtz and her brother moved in with their siblings in Chicago. When her brother gave her the option of going to school, she decided to work instead, wanting to be on her own. Her sister was already employed at Hart, Schaffner & Marx and got Steinholtz a job there doing handwork on sleeves. She gave a portion of her wages to her brother in order repay him for her passage to America. Six months after she arrived in Chicago, she began attending night school to learn English. (29:51-33:03)... Steinholtz describes the various types of handwork she did during the five years she worked at Hart, Schaffner & Marx. Her foreman trained her in different operations because he felt she had excellent handwork skills. However, he refused to teach her how to operate the special machines because he did not want to lose her handwork labor. She wanted to work on special machines because the money was better. While at Hart, Schaffner & Marx, she joined the ACWA. She paid a $1.50 initiation fee and .50 or $1 per month in union dues. (33:03-34:38)... Steinholtz discusses her wages and hours. As her job assignments and skill level progressed, she was paid a piecework rate, averaging $15-$16/week, working Monday through Friday and half day on Saturday. (34:38-35:40)... At Hart, Schaffner & Marx, she became chairlady of the handwork section and was responsible for overseeing the work and taking her co-workers' complaints to the shop chairman. There were two Jewish women in her section and the rest were Italians and Poles. Her work environment was jovial, recalling that she and her co-workers enjoyed singing while they worked. (35:40-41:36)... In 1918, Steinholtz contracted Spanish influenza and was hospitalized. When she was released from the hospital, she quit Hart, Schaffner & Marx for a higher-paying position, earning $22.50/week for her handwork. She lost her job when the owner of the shop moved his factory to Wisconsin, and until 1922, was unable to keep a steady position. She was fired from each shop when she tried to organize workers on behalf of the ACWA. The most she earned 1918-1922 was $35/week. (41:36-42:40)... Steinholtz attended night school for five years in order to learn English, eager to read, write, speak English. (42:40-44:42)... Steinholtz dated quite a bit during her first few years in Chicago, and eventually was engaged around 1922. She and her siblings made arrangements for their parents to immigrate to America. End of tape. File: lhgwmsteinholtz2.mp3 (0:00-3:57)... Steinholtz was married on May 27, 1923. Her wedding took place in a hall located in a restaurant. She borrowed her wedding attire from her sister-in-law and a friend made her veil. Before they married, she and her fiance furnished and decorated his house. (3:57-8:06)... Steinholtz talks about the immigration agent hired to oversee her passage to US. She decided to emigrate because she felt that there was no future for Jews in Russia. When she was a child, she was told to hide from the czar's military police because they beat and killed Jews. (8:06-11:23)... Although her parents were religious and maintained a kosher household, Steinholtz was not observant once she left home. and never prepared separate kosher dishes for her mother or her mother-in-law when they ate in her home. This line of conversation leads her to talk about her family, her mother's medical problems, and her brother's relationship to their parents and to her. (11:23-13:51)... When Steinholtz went to Hebrew school in Russia, the emphasis was on reading and writing and translating Hebrew texts into Yiddish. It was not a religious-based training. In an aside, Steinholtz talks about her health and her heart attack in 1966. (13:51-18:45)... Steinholtz was the fourth of twelve children. When her youngest sibling, Sylvie, was just an infant, Steinholtz immigrated to the US. Her older sister, Fanny, graduated from a Russian school and received a scholarship to go to high school, but her parents could not afford to send her to another city so she took up dressmaking instead. Their older brother, Myer, went to trade school in Russia to learn carpentry. She also talks about their childhood activities and their winter clothing. (18:45-21:58)... Steinholtz helped her mother with cooking and childcare and details the process of making rye bread. In addition to preparing meals for the family, they also cooked for her father's workers. (21:58-25:14)... When she was a young girl, Steinholtz was mainly interested in playing with her friends and having a good time. She recalls that during the winter months she cut a hole in the lake to collect water for her family; only the wealthy families in the community had running water in their houses. Her mother and sister made clothing for the family when they had time. Occasionally, a wealthy uncle in Leningrad sent them clothes. (25:14-28:52)... Because Steinholtz's father was so strict, her older brother became engaged without his parents' knowledge. He also secretly corresponded with an uncle in Chicago in anticipation of immigrating. He left Russia when he was seventeen. Once in the states, he got in contact with relatives in Chicago, New Jersey, and New York. (28:52-33:01)... Steinholtz gives details about her eleven siblings. The age difference between the first eleven children was very slight, which meant that her mother was pregnant almost every year. She believes that the last child was a "change of life baby" because her mother had her when she was in her late forties. (33:01-34:45)... Steinholtz and her family lived in a small town. Except for the wealthy, who lived in brick homes, most people lived in log homes. The town surrounded a lake and they traveled to the next town by boat. During the winter, they rode their horse and buggy across the frozen lake. (34:45-36:16)... Steinholtz describes their living quarters as cramped. Her parents always had their own bedroom, but the children slept wherever they could make a bed. Even though they were poor, they could afford to pay a woman to do their laundry and help with certain household tasks. Occasionally, she was paid with goods rather than money. (36:16-41:23)... Steinholtz notes that she has a difficult time remembering much about her childhood in Russia. In fact, she is not really certain if her birth is 1898 or 1898. She discusses various family members and relationships, including her feelings about her fraternal aunt's husband who she describes was a philanderer. A few of Steinholtz's siblings remained in Russia after the majority of the family emigrated, and she did not see one of her sisters again until 1966. End of tape.
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