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Kaplan (Himmelfarb), Rose (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Rose Kaplan (Himmelfarb) was interviewed in her home in Petaluma. Her husband was present for most of the interview and occasionally she turned to him to elaborate. Kaplan was referred to the Feminist History Research Project as one of the women living in the radical Jewish community of egg ranchers in Petaluma, California. Because she lived in North California, a second interview with her became impractical, and as a result this single interview does not go beyond early 1940, when we moved to California. TOPICS - family background and economic status; work in the Ukraine; religion; Ukrainian community; progroms; immigration experiences; 1908 strike in Ukraine; living conditions, New York; garment work, New York; working conditions; wages and hours; ILGWU, Local 9; WTUL; 1916 strike; and left-wing split in the union;abolition of women's branches, ILGWU Locals; 1921 election of left-wing organizers; 1922 national convention and expulsion of left-wing Locals; internal struggles between right and left-wing factions; 1926 special convention for reconciliation; general strike for forty-hour work week; formation of Needle Trades Industrial Union; Depression; dissolution of Local 9; CP membership; cooperative living; Joint Action Committee, San Francisco,1925; Unemployed Councils, NY; working conditions, 1930s; resurgence of left-wing movement; and move to California; 3/13/1975
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- SUBJECT BIO - Rose Kaplan (Himmelfarb) was active in the left wing faction of the ILGWU and among those involved in the formation of the Needle Trades Industrial Union. Born in the Ukraine, she immigrated to the US in 1911 and immediately went to work in the clothing factory where her sister worked. There, and especially during the garment strike of 1916, she was introduced to radical politics and unionism. By the early 1920s, when she lived in a "commune" with other radicals, she joined the Communist party. She became active in the Joint Action Committee, the precursor of the left-wing Needle Trades Industrial Union. She eventually moved to California in the early 1940s, where she married. At some point, she moved to Petaluma, joining the Jewish communist chicken ranchers who settled there in the late 1940s. The interview was conducted as part of the Feminist History Research Project series on garment workers. The intention was to continue with additional interviews, but this never happened. As a result, the details of Kaplan's life after her move to California are not known. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Rose Kaplan (Himmelfarb) was interviewed in her home in Petaluma. Her husband was present for most of the interview and occasionally she turned to him to elaborate. Kaplan was referred to the Feminist History Research Project as one of the women living in the radical Jewish community of egg ranchers in Petaluma, California. Because she lived in North California, a second interview with her became impractical, and as a result this single interview does not go beyond early 1940, when we moved to California. TOPICS - family background and economic status; work in the Ukraine; religion; Ukrainian community; progroms; immigration experiences; 1908 strike in Ukraine; living conditions, New York; garment work, New York; working conditions; wages and hours; ILGWU, Local 9; WTUL; 1916 strike; and left-wing split in the union;abolition of women's branches, ILGWU Locals; 1921 election of left-wing organizers; 1922 national convention and expulsion of left-wing Locals; internal struggles between right and left-wing factions; 1926 special convention for reconciliation; general strike for forty-hour work week; formation of Needle Trades Industrial Union; Depression; dissolution of Local 9; CP membership; cooperative living; Joint Action Committee, San Francisco,1925; Unemployed Councils, NY; working conditions, 1930s; resurgence of left-wing movement; and move to California;
- File: lhgwrkaplan1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:55)... Rose Kaplan (Himmelfarb) was born in a small, Ukrainian town in 1896, the last of five children. In 1903, her father immigrated to London to pursue his trade as a tailor. Her oldest sister joined him a short time later. The rest of the family remained in the Ukraine and rented an apartment with Kaplan's grandmother. When her mother became sick and died two years later, Kaplan and her siblings moved in with their maternal grandfather and step-grandmother. Her grandfather supported the family as a shoemaker and they lived "a very poor life." She began working at the age of twelve. (3:55-4:20)... Kaplan did not go to school in the Ukraine. Her grandmother taught her how to speak English and a girlfriend taught her how to write in English. None of her siblings went to school. (4:20-4:54)... Seven years after moving to London, her father and sister immigrated to America and began sending for the rest of their family. Kaplan arrived in the US in 1911. She immediately went to work to help her father and sister accumulate enough money for the rest of their family to come to the states. (4:54-6:31)... When she was twelve years old, she went to work in a garment factory in the Ukraine that manufactured coats for peasants. Her starting wage was .50 cents a day. When she left the factory five years later, she was making $1.50/week. [Editor's note: If she started working there when she was 12 and immigrated in 1911, then she worked there three years before emigrating.] There were approximately fifteen girls employed at the factory, the majority of whom were Jewish; the factory owner also Jewish. (6:31-7:39)... The owner of the factory was an Orthodox Jew and so the factory was closed on Saturday in observance of the Sabbath. Although Kaplan was raised in a kosher household and her parents/grandparents observed Jewish holidays, she did not receive any formal religious training. (7:39-10:24)... Kaplan asks her husband about her Ukrainian community; he then proceeds to describe the marketplace. There were approximately 200-300 Jewish families living in the town, and they lived in the center, near the marketplace, while the Gentile community was on the outskirts. Peasants brought agricultural goods to the market on a daily basis and bartered or sold these goods in exchange for items produced in the village. (10:24-13:17)... Even though the Ukrainian community in which she was raised never experienced a pogrom, the Jewish residents lived in fear whenever Russian military recruits passed through town. Her grandfather dug a hole in his basement to hide their valuable possessions in case the recruits ransacked their village. There was a notorious pogrom in a town that three or four hours away by horse and buggy. (13:17-14:06)... When she went to work in the coat factory, two of her sisters were already employed there. There were about fifteen girls doing handwork in the factory. (14:06-21:18)... Kaplan started out for the US in 1911. She notes that you could cross the border by either buying off the border guards or obtaining a passport. Because she had no records, she couldn't get a passport. Her father arranged for her to cross the border by providing documents that said she was being adopted by a family in Austria. After crossing the border, she was met by an agent who provided her with documents to get her to her next location. She met a new agent at each stop along the way. In Austria, she was placed with a girl from her town and they traveled to Amsterdam together, where they boarded a boat to the US. They were in the third-class cabin, which was crowded with women and children. (21:19-22:54)... Kaplan arrived at Castle Garden (Ellis Island)on Labor Day, 1911. People usually took a boat out to the ship to greet their friends and relatives, but the passengers were required to stay on the boat because of the celebrations taking place in the city. She was disappointed that her father did not meet her when she arrived. She later learned that her sister was participating in a Labor Day celebration and they did not receive word of her arrival until the evening. Her father took her off the ship the next day. (22:54-25:04)... Progressive and radical ideas were not discussed in the household while she was still in Ukraine. Around 1908, a strike was held at the coat factory where she was employed, but she continued working in the factory and attempts to organize the shop were unsuccessful. This experience did not imbue her with any sense of unionism or radicalism. (25:04-25:51)... When she arrived in New York, her father and sister were living in a two-room apartment in a tenement complex on the east side. There was one window in the apartment and it was very small. Although there was running water inside the apartment, the toilet was located in the hall. (25:51-28:59)... Her second day in New York, Kaplan got a job at a garment shop where her sister was employed. She joined the union right away and began associating with people who she describes as former revolutionaries. There were approximately thirty workers in the shop. The women were "helpers" to the tailors. They were not responsible for making a garment on their own, but did certain tasks for the tailor. This process changed and improved over the years because of the union. . Kaplan was paid $7/week by the tailor who, in turn, was paid by the shop owner. (28:59-32:21)... Kaplan discusses the formation of the union following the general strike in the garment industry. When she joined the union in 1911, she was placed in Local 9. At that time, the Locals were based on the work specialization. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was still fresh in people's minds. In addition to shop inspections, protective legislation was introduced for women. Although she was familiar with WTUL activities, she did not participate in their efforts to bring about protective legislation or suffrage for women. (32:21-35:34)... Kaplan went to her first union meeting in 1916 after factory owners locked workers out and a strike was called. In response to a question, she notes that she knew people active in socialist and anarchist circles, but did not go to their meetings on a regular basis. Even though there were both men and women in Local 9, there was a separate women's branch because, as she notes: "men didn't behave nicely and talked in a way that was insulting to the women...." Kaplan believes there were 30,000 members in the union, half of whom were women. However, the men were more active than the women and all of the representatives in the women's branch were men. (35:34-35:55)... She began going to school after she settled in New York; however, she eventually quit because she got too busy. (35:55-37:09)... Note: there is an interruption in this segment while Kaplan answers the telephone. Kaplan describes the working conditions at the garment shop where she first worked. After the 1916 strike, the work hours were reduced from sixty to fifty per week and workers received an hour lunch break. (37:09-40:41)... Kaplan discusses the 1916 strike, noting that when she spoke at a meeting during the strike, her co-workers were so impressed that they took her into the executive committee. In 1919-20, a "left-wing" split occurred in the union because members were disenchanted with officials for making changes to the supplementary agreement in favor of shop bosses. At this time, members of the union began agitating for the abolition of separate branches in Local 9 and the "helper" system in the garment industry. End of tape. File: lhgwrkaplan2.mp3 (0:02-2:40)... In 1920, women in the union initiated efforts to eradicate separate branches in the Local for men and women because they believed that their interests were not different from the men's. The men ultimately realized that women were just as capable and women were voted into leadership and executive positions and separate Locals were eventually abolished. Kaplan was already active in these efforts when the left-wing movement began to gain momentum and influence in 1921. (2:40-4:14)... In 1921, members of the left-wing movement ran for union offices and were elected by their Locals to several executive positions. In addition, seventy people in the left wing group were elected delegates to the 1922 convention. Kaplan notes that the union was filled with "stool pigeons" whose jobs was to weed out the left wing faction by labeling them as communists. As a result, all seventy members of the left-wing movement were expelled from the 1922 convention even though they were elected by their Locals. (4:14-7:52)... Kaplan elaborates on the power struggle in the union between the left and right-wing factions. This conflict culminated in 1925 when the left-wing faction organized the Joint Action Committee in order to combat the efforts to expel their Local from the union. The Needle Trades Industrial Union (NTIU) was an outgrowth of the Joint Action Committee. (7:52-14:02)... Working conditions in the shops deteriorated as a result of the internal struggles in the union. In 1926, a special convention was held to negotiate a peaceful resolution between the two factions, at which time the left-wing Locals were reinstated. However, when the right-wing faction did not hold up its end of the bargain, elections were held and left-wing unionists were voted back into office. A general strike was called during this period with the main demand being a forty-hour work week. The general strike was sabotaged by right-wing supporter who attempted to influence bosses not to settle. As soon as a settlement was reached, employers and conservatives began to undermine the conditions stipulated in the union contract and left-wing locals were expelled from the union once again. By this time, the Needle Trades Industrial Union (NTIU) was organized. In many ways, Kaplan feels this was a mistake because the divisions in the union spread into the shops where disunity among workers benefited employers and working conditions continued to decline. (14:02-16:56)... The problems for left-wing locals were exacerbated during the Depression. It became difficult to organize workers and discourage them from going to work in shops that did not recognize the NTIU. Eventually, most of the men in Kaplan's Local had no choice but to register with the international because they had to support their families. The women remained in the Local "until the bitter end", and Local 9 was the last Local to dissolve and rejoin the international union (ILGWU). (16:56-19:37)... Kaplan believes that the NRA "saved the union" because it formally recognized the ILGWU and provided for better working conditions. She rejoined the union in 1932. (19:37-21:22)... Kaplan joined the CP in 1922. There were no conflicts between her party affiliation and her membership in the NTIU. She recalls attending a meeting in Madison Square Garden regarding the Russian Revolution. Even though many Russians returned to Russia after the revolution, she had no desire to go back home. (21:22-23:50)... The rest of Kaplan's siblings immigrated to the US around 1912. Although her relatives were not active in the union or progressive movements, her father approved of her activities. He was a member of the ACWA, but was not active. She talks about her siblings, noting that her younger brother was killed in an accident in 1917. (23:50-28:20)... Kaplan married in 1943, noting that her family never pressured her to get married. Returning to her earlier life, she describes the cooperative where she lived, 1921-1924. Even though the residents shared a certain amount of household responsibilities, the commune was large enough to support a household staff. Discussions were always very passionate among the residents because of their varying, and often conflicting, viewpoints. The sixty residents at the cooperative were either anarchists, socialists or communists. (28:20-31:33)... Kaplan discusses how she became interested in the CP, stating, "you know, during those days you use to meet people and every one had an ideology.... At that time, it was easy to be influenced." After leaving the cooperative in 1924, she moved to California and became active in the Joint Action Committee struggle in San Francisco. She worked in the garment industry there before returning to New York around 1926. (31:33-32:54)... When she returned to New York, she continued her union activities and became active in the CP's Unemployed Councils. She discusses her efforts in organizing a soup kitchen for "Hispanic" comrades living in Harlem. She worked in garment shops throughout the Depression, although there were periods when she made only $2/day. (32:54-35:33)... The union in the 1930s was "like a fresh beginning" and working conditions and wages improved dramatically. She made $41/week, which was a lot of money at the time. In 1932-33, the left-wing movement reorganized and began to have an influence on the union once again. She was an executive officer in the union until 1941, when she left New York and moved to California. End of tape.
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