Other
Holland, Rebecca (Goldberg) (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This third and final interview with Rebecca Holland Goldberg, conducted in her home as a part of a UCLA student project , is sometimes difficult to hear because of muffled sound. TOPICS - 1917 strike in Chicago; 1922 general strike in New York; and the politics, composition and role of the Women's Trade Union League;social values, including attitudes toward free love; Brookwood Labor College; and ILGWU in Los Angeles; 12/3/1974
- Date
- 2020-04-03
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
- Keywords
- Handle
- Language
- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - Rebecca Holland (Goldberg) was a long time organizer for the ILGWU, beginning in 1912 in Chicago. She was active in the union later in Los Angeles, and although the details of her organizing activities in Los Angeles are somewhat sparse, her interview is interesting because she and the governing clique in Los Angeles are discussed by Anita Castro in her interview. The interview with Holland (Goldberg) was conducted as a student project at UCLA. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This third and final interview with Rebecca Holland Goldberg, conducted in her home as a part of a UCLA student project , is sometimes difficult to hear because of muffled sound. TOPICS - 1917 strike in Chicago; 1922 general strike in New York; and the politics, composition and role of the Women's Trade Union League;social values, including attitudes toward free love; Brookwood Labor College; and ILGWU in Los Angeles;
- File: lhgwrholland5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-0:31)... Tape introduction. (0:31-4:31)... [Note: the audio is very faint in the beginning.] In 1917, she worked for a non-union shop and went on strike for higher wages and union recognition. The shop was not organized and several of the workers refused to go on strike. The strike was very violent and fights broke out between the picketers and the scabs. Holland was arrested for disturbing the peace and spent the night in jail. The picketers were placed in a separate cell and refused to eat. Like herself, the women with her were very young and they passed the time by singing songs. This strike was not successful because the other workers in the shop refused to organize. This shop was later unionized some time in the 1930s. (4:31-8:41)... Prior to the 1917 strike, she attempted to organize the shop where she worked. She organized a committee to settle prices of the garments being made in the shop. Several workers in the shop did not understand union policies and refused to join the union. The resulting strike was very violent and the police were brutal. When she was arrested, a police officer dragged her to the police wagon by her coat collar. In contrast to this experience, the police in the 1930s were much milder and acted like gentlemen when they interacted with picketers. (8:41-14:40)... The Women's Trade Union League was very effective in the labor movement. However, several of the women in the organization opposed fights or boisterous action, which was mainly the attitude of the older, wealthy women in the group. The WTUL in Chicago was much more conservative than the group in New York. Workers joined the WTUL because it offered educational opportunities. In addition, the workers acquired more respect through their associated with the WTUL. The organization also taught the workers how to fight for legislative action. For example, the organization sponsored a delegation to the Chicago Federation of Labor convention where Holland and four other workers discussed the necessity of an eight-hour work day. (14:40-15:20)... In 1922, she became involved in the dressmakers strike in New York. She was the chief manager of the workers and managed the strike from the union hall. When workers reported to the hall, she discussed the strike with the workers and divided them into committees of picketers. (15:20-19:07)... The women in the WTUL were not active in the picketing efforts during the strikes and avoided violence and arrest. The ILGWU was more effective than the WTUL because it had a seat in the Chicago Federation of Labor. In Holland's opinion, the Chicago Federation of Labor did not view the WTUL as an important organization, mainly because the group's lack of action in the movement. Most of the women in the WTUL were intellectuals and included wealthy women, professionals, and teachers. (19:07-21:20)... Holland agrees with Rose Schneiderman's assessment that the WTUL was mainly apolitical. The main reason for this was because of the membership, which included upper and middle class women. Holland describes Schneiderman as a politically mild woman who attracted followers based on theoretical ideas, not promises of action. Workers could not depend on women like this for solutions to their working conditions. (21:20-23:17)... The WTUL was important because it offered workers a link to other types of people in society who were educators and professionals. The association with the Women's Trade Union League gave the workers more prestige, or something similar to good public relations. (23:17-28:41)... Although workers appreciated the presence of the WTUL, Holland did not agree with the group's opposition to fighting and physical action. In addition, some of the women in the League had nothing to offer the workers politically or intellectually. Some of the women pitied the workers and compared them to animals. There was a small faction in the group that believed workers should settle their labor disputes through talking rather than through strikes. In particular, Mrs. McCormick (of the Tribune family?) believed that striking was "low." It was these women who disassociated themselves from the workers after violence and arrests. Nevertheless, Holland believes that cooperating with these women was more important because the WTUL gave the workers access to previously closed educational and political avenues. (28:41-32:47)... Most women agreed that legislative action could improve working conditions. The WTUL impacted workers through discussions on political participation and the election process. In 1916 when Eugene Debs ran for president, ninety percent of his campaign was run by workers. Although, many of these women accepted the fact that US was not ready to elect a socialist candidate, this experience exposed women to the idea the legislative action was an important avenue within the democratic process. (32:47-36:03)... The WTUL did not support Debs because he was a socialist. Most of these women were either Democrats or Republicans, whereas the workers were mainly socialists of Wobblies. Holland was more active in the Socialist Party, but she agreed with the IWW philosophy, mainly because she believed that workers should control government and the economy rather than some centralized power. (36:03-39:43)... Mrs. Lily was active in the Women's Trade Union League and provided financial assistance to many of the workers. For example, she sent Jenny Matyas to college. Holland introduces Sadie Goodman's book into the interview, and describes it as an example of the types of women involved in the labor movement. Holland refused to accept financial assistance from anyone because she was too independent, while other women like Goodman and Matyas saw this assistance as an opportunity to further themselves. [Note: the recording trails off as the narrator leaves to get a book.] (39:43-42:27)... In general, the WTUL helped workers because it gave them access to educational opportunities. It was an avenue of expression for the workers, but she does not believe the workers influenced policies within the organization, mainly because very little policy existed in the first place. end of tape File: lhgwrholland6.mp3 (0:00-5:31)... [Note: the tape begins abruptly with a discussion of men in the AFL.] She had great admiration for men in the AFL who were active and aggressive in the labor movement. In contrast, she opposed the wealthy and inactive women in the WTUL. Most workers did not voice their opinions, even if they did not agree with certain policies or procedures. This was also the case during union meetings. Holland was very frustrated with people who voiced their opposition to her, but were afraid to speak up during meetings. (5:31-9:16)... When she attended Brookwood Labor College, the students were divided into committees and then elected which committee would be responsible for taking care of the daily activities, such as cooking and cleaning. The living facilities included dormitories and five small cottages. Two people were assigned to each room. (9:16-11:32)... Because there were several people at Brookwood Labor College who had poor reading and writing skills, she was instructed to organize a group of students and assist them with these skills. The course of study at the college included political science, history, communism, anarchism, socialism, democracy, and government, and economics. There were also courses that taught organizing techniques and other labor union procedures. (11:32-14:26)... She describes a typical day at Brookwood Labor College. There was no division of labor at the college and men and women both cooked and cleaned. The group was very homogenous and everyone worked together like a family. (14:26-16:10)... She discusses the professors at Brookwood Labor College, including A.J. Muste, who was the head of the college and taught courses in history. (16:10-22:25)... The students at Brookwood Labor College worked together so well because of common goals in education and the labor movement. The students were workers from different unions throughout the country. Muste was a great influence on the students because he was a humanitarian. He wanted to provide an education to workers who had no opportunities available to them otherwise. Although most of the workers were sponsored by their unions, the WTUL also offered scholarships to women to attend the school. (22:25-28:25)... She generally did not believe in the tenets of free love or extramarital sexual activity. She recalls a particular incident when she met a woman with a child from a married man. These incidents disturbed her because many of these women were struggling on a single income, while the man was married and living well with his other family. She believes that these ideals were influenced by the publication of Emma Goldman's anarchist treatise that suggested free love as an alternative to the bondage of marriage. (28:25-32:18)... Although there was birth control for men, she does not recall any particular devices used by women to control reproduction. She could not offer any specific information on the availability of abortion, but knew that there were doctors who specialized in abortion. There were several men she knew in the labor union who worked in high union positions and engaged in extramarital affairs. She was not afraid of openly discussing her disgust with their actions and often confronted these men with their transgressions. Holland also expresses disapproval of homosexuality. She discusses a lesbian relationship in which the "man girl" persuaded the "woman girl" to leave her husband. (32:18-36:23)... In 1937, she left Los Angeles and moved to Michigan for a short time to care for her son who had suffered an ankle injury. At this time, Pesotta enlisted the assistance of Holland's husband, at which time he began organizing shops. Pesotta was always very active on the picket line with the workers, and was arrested quite often. On one particular occasion, Pesotta hit a police officer when he was attempting to arrest him. In 1940, Holland was asked to return to Los Angeles and work as a business agent. (36:23-40:20)... She was not personally affected by McCarthyism because she was not involved in communist work. She recalls that in 1920-21, there was a split between the communists and the ILGWU, during which the communists cleaned out the union's treasury. The Communist Party split itself after William Foster was elected as the chair. At this time, Jay Lovestone split with the party and formed the "Lovestonite Party." End of tape.
- Rights Note
- This repository item may be used for classroom presentations, unpublished papers, and other educational, research, or scholarly use. Other uses, especially publication in any form, such as in dissertations, theses, articles, or web pages are not permitted without the express written permission of the individual collection's copyright holder(s). Please contact the CSULB Library Administration should you require permission to publish or distribute any content from this collection or if you need additional information or assistance in using these materials: http://www.csulb.edu/library/Common/SubmittedForms/digital_rep_request.html
Relationships
- In Collection:
Items
| Thumbnail | File information | Actions |
|---|---|---|
|
2694388073357226-lhgwrholland5.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
0219789694328657-lhgwrholland6.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
7893825908550422-gwrgoldberg1.jpg Public
|
Download |
|
|
2721939275108774-gwrgoldberg2.jpg Public
|
Download |