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Stern (Todes), Charlotte (audio interview #4 of 7)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the fourth of seven interviews with Charlotte Todes Stern, conducted in her Columbia University apartment by Ros Baxandall for the Feminist History Research Project. Stern was a friend of Baxandall's parents and because she and the interviewer shared a similar world, they maintained good rapport and enjoyed each other's company. Both the narrator and interviewer were pleased with this interview session, feeling that it was a good integration or politics and personal. And, unlike the previous two interviews, the narrator did not read from prepared materials during this interview. 5/22/1976
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- 2021-01-27
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- SUBJECT BIO - Todes Stern was a radical activist for most her life, beginning with her introduction to YPSL (Young People's Socialist League) during her college years. Much her of activism focused on the labor movement and her membership in the Communist party. The daughter of Jewish immigrant parents, Stern was raised in East Boston. Her mother was obsessed with their her daughter obtaining a good education and Stern spent her high school years at Girl's Latin School before attending Radcliffe College. After Stern graduated from college in 1917, she was employed as a social worker with the Federation of Jewish Charities in Boston, where she worked on housing and welfare issues. In 1923, Stern became a staff member of the Workers Health Bureau (WHB) and when she returned from a two year sojourn in Europe with her husband two years later, she became their Organizing Secretary. She traveled around the US organizing on behalf of the WHB until 1927, when she moved to Seattle with her husband. There, she became the secretary of the International Labor Defense. Her work in the lumber camps during this period resulted in writing Labor and Lumber , published in 1932 under her family name, Charlotte Todes. During the 1930s, when the Sterns moved back to New York, she joined the Community party. In a short autobiographical sketch, Stern notes that her career in the CP was almost entirely devoted to organizing the unorganized. She worked, especially, with the Food Workers Organizing Committee and became the Educational Director when the workers succeeded in establishing a union. In 1945, the president of the union appointed Stern to the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Later, called before HUAC, Stern, along with others on the committee, refused to turn over their records. In 1947 she was found guilty of Contempt of Congress and in 1950 served a three month sentence. With the politically repressive climate and fear that permeated the labor movement, Stern decided to retool and began working in the medical field. In 1956, at about the time that her husband died, she was fired from her job as a medical researcher as a result of FBI intervention. Eventually Stern found work as a journalist on a medical newspaper, where she remained until her retirement in 1971. Proud of her political history, Stern was very interested in making her oral history accessible. As a result, arrangements were made for the Tamiment Library at NYU to transcribe her oral history. Her edited transcript is on deposit there. TOPICS - travel to USSR and Europe; conditions in USSR and prewar Europe; fascism; CP; Alexander Trachtenberg; political beliefs; Workers School; and labor education work;CP organizing; labor education work; Congress of Women; women's issues; social relationships; International Women's Day; financial situation; and husband's employment difficulties;Unemployed Councils; political activism; daughter; USSR and Europe, political climate;CP activities; social relationships; Stalin-Hitler (Munich) Pact; OPEIU; labor organizing; AFL and CIO; Food Workers Union; and union employment;WWII; Hotel Workers Union; African American workers; racism; union organizing; women's issues writing career; wartime opportunities; and postwar expectations;
- *** File: refcstern8.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-7:56)... In 1932, Stern and her husband made a short trip to the Soviet Union. There they visited factories and met with intellectuals to discuss labor and economic state in the country. The factories and cities in general appeared to be in a primitive state. There was a low supply of food and people were not well dressed, yet Stern was impressed with the confidence many people possessed. On their second trip later that decade, many of the people they met in 1932 were withdrawn and afraid to talk to foreigners. (7:56-13:14)... Stern and her husband left the Soviet Union for Berlin, Germany and visited where they once lived shortly after marrying. They went to the Marx House, the Communist party headquarters, which was practically destroyed by raids. After a few days, they left for Paris to attend a conference on fascism for which they were delegates. When French officials refused to allow Maxim Gorky, who was to speak at the conference, to enter, the conference was moved to Amsterdam. (13:14-21:32)... While traveling in Europe, Stern recognized a great fear of Hitler and fascism, except by the Russians. Most communists did not comprehend the threat of Hitler. At the Amsterdam conference, a major point of concern was fascism, and other issues, such as women's rights, were not addressed. While they were in Europe, Stern's mother and sister-in-law cared for her daughter. (21:32-32:49)... Stern returned from the conference with a stronger belief in her ideologies. She became friends with Alexander Trachtenberg, the communist director of International Publishers. Stern was not friendly with many women in the movement because they held an elitist attitude. Many people joined the CP during Hitler's rise because it was the only major group taking a stand against fascism and many of them were disillusioned with the Munich Pact and later became informants. (32:49-42:55)... Trachtenberg became a mentor to Stern. He helped her with writing and encouraged her to teach at the Workers School. In addition to working at the school, she also volunteered to teach labor history to unions, developing her own lesson. End of tape. *** File: refcstern9.mp3 (0:00-8:40)... In 1937, Stern went to West Virginia for a week to increase the political consciousness of miners in the Communist party. She stayed with one of the miners and learned about their home life. She visited with Black miners and found they lived in even deeper poverty than the white miners. Although it was a short visit, Stern valued the experience highly. (8:40-15:37)... In 1939, Stern went to Baltimore for six weeks to teach Black steel workers. She felt that Communist party leaders were not supportive and the visit was not very successful. Many workers were not interested and quit attending her classes. The workers and party leaders in Baltimore seemed to resent her presence. (15:37-22:19)... During the 1930s, Stern felt conflicted over whether to be an activist or researcher and writer. She became a board member of the Congress of Women [Editor's note: the Congress of Women was a CP affiliated group.] The Congress was interested in women's rights, equal pay, workers issues, and was against an equal rights amendment (ERA). It was concerned with political and labor issues rather than domestic or personal issues. During this period, the Women's Trade Union League and the Congress of Women were the only two groups focused specifically on women's issues. (22:19-28:51)... The Congress of Women was not a feminist group, but rather focused on political and societal problems of women. It advocated daycare, but was more concerned with fascism, women's unionization, and protective legislation for women although it was also concerned with male chauvinism. (28:51-36:48)... Stern served on committees for the Congress of Women and organized lectures and spearheaded celebrations of International Women's Day (IWD). The Congress had trouble finding widespread support. Stern was more interested in organizing women in trade unions than other specific women's issues. Although Stern had many friends, she had little time for socializing because she was busy with work, organizing, and her family. People within the CP had a permissive attitude toward marriage and sexual relations. (36:48-45:41)... Stern's family faced economic difficulty when the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences closed, and throughout the 1930s, Bernhard had trouble finding work as a university professor as a result of anti-Semitism. His leftist associations also deterred universities from hiring him. Then, in 1936, Bernhard was assigned to teach at Columbia University in the School of General Studies. He founded Science and Society, an independent magazine to further the study of Marxism. End of tape. *** File: refcstern10.mp3 (0:00-6:54)... Stern's daughter attended Lincoln School, an experimental private progressive school, from pre-kindergarten through high school. During high school, she attended American Labor Party meetings with many people her own age. Stern participated in Unemployed Councils and was involved in the Washington, DC demonstration in March 1933 as a reporter for the Rank-and-File Federationist. Although the demonstration was organized by CP leaders, non-communists and regular unemployed workers joined the demonstration. (6:54-16:51)... Stern and her husband took a second trip to the Soviet Union in 1937 for four to five weeks. Their six year old daughter stayed with friends of the family back in New York. They led a group of twelve teachers and social leaders and gave lectures on the way to the Soviet Union. Once there, they found it difficult to meet with anyone because of a Soviet fear of foreigners. No one in the Soviet Union seemed aware of the purges taking place. (16:51-22:11)... Returning from the Soviet Union, Stern and her husband stopped in Vienna where they experienced some of the hardships and discrimination of Jews. The Jews in Vienna were resentful of the Soviet Union. On the way from Vienna, she met a woman who was an underground socialist activist. In the years that Hitler was rising to power, there was a great feeling of fear. (22:11-31:10)... Stern was busy in CP work and had little time for socializing. She knew most of her friends from CP activities and work. Her husband, Bernhard, along with other writers, joined the CP to fight against fascism. Many of those who joined the party late became disillusioned with the Munich Pact. Although the official Party position in the early 1930s was against war and fascism, after the Munich Pact, the Party adopted an outlook that was supportive of the Soviet Union. (31:10-40:43)... When Stern returned from Austria in 1938, she began working for the United Office and Professional Workers Union (OPEIU) as the educational director, and remained with them until the organization ran out of funds in 1940. She was then asked to be the educational and welfare director for the Food Workers or Hotel and Club Employees Union. Since the AFL only wanted highly skilled workers, other laborers joined the CIO. While there was an underlying drive for unity, there was a rivalry between the AFL and CIO. (40:43-46:00)... Stern began working for pay as an official in the Food Workers Union in 1941. Many union organizers during the 1930s were recent university graduates. She wrote brochures about unemployment and arranged informational meetings with hotel workers. Workers could also get consultation or referrals for individual work or personal problems. End of tape. *** File: refcstern11.mp3 (0:00-4:51)... Working with the Hotel Workers Union, Stern educated the workers about World War II. Although many hotel guests feared having Black workers clean their rooms while they were gone, Stern encouraged management to hire more Blacks. Labor shortages during the war led management to agree finally to hire Blacks. (4:51-9:26)... Stern and her colleagues in the Hotel Workers Union would hold meetings to critically discuss World War II. Many disagreements arose between union directors and members in deciding what issues to address. Black members wanted the union to focus more on race discrimination in job assignment and promotion. (9:26-14:04)... Stern helped to organize night classes and art exhibits to attract people to the union and gain loyalty. Many of the departments within a hotel structure were divided along racial or ethnic lines. The union attempted to help each group with its particular issues of concern and also lobbied management to have the departments more integrated. (14:04-18:18)... In 1941, on the advice of Alexander Trachtenberg, Stern published a book which fit in with a series on labor leaders. She had given many lectures on women leaders and was interested in writing more about women for the book series. However, with her responsibilities in the labor union, she was too busy for research and writing. In fact, her labor activism left little time with her own family. (18:18-27:29)... During WWII, when the Soviet Union became an ally of the United States, new opportunities opened for Stern and her husband and the family experienced greater financial success during this period. A major issue facing both the unions and the workers was that servicemen expected to return to their former jobs. The union also had to deal with pay raises to combat inflation, fringe benefits, and health care. End of tape.
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