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(Kaplan) Spitzer, Lottie (audio interview #1 of 9)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is one of eight interviews with Lottie Kaplan Spitzer conducted as part of a Senior Honors project in collaboration with the Feminist History Research Project. Spitzer was very cooperative, but also a bit guarded, since she thought the interviewer was affiliated with the union (ACWA). The interviews were conducted at the ACWA Retirees Center, which probably helped Spitzer to remember and focus on her union experiences. On the other hand, it might have reinforced only positive sentiments about the union, particularly since at the time of the interview visits there constituted Spitzer's main social excursion. There is a great deal of overlap and repetitiousness between the interviews, partially because of Spitzer's tendency to go off into different directions in response to the interviewer's question. Clearly, certain events and people represent more salient memories and these are the ones she tends to repeat. Despite some of the repetitiousness, however, the interviews provide a nice picture of the kind of grass roots union organizing that women like her carried out, especially in the 1910s. TOPICS - work in jewelry store, Fall River, Massachusetts; moving to Chicago; job at Scotch Woolen Mills; job training; working conditions; wages and hours; sexual harassment; work operations; worker demographics; gendered division of labor; family background; socioeconomic status; classism; work stress and injuries; and daily schedule;work clothing; social life; sexual harassment at Scotch Woolen Mills; schooling and education; living arrangements,Chicago; neighborhood; radical political movements; working conditions and wages; gender roles; menstruation; childhood; family history; and father's work history;childhood; friends and social life; schooling and education in Russia; expectations; family history; immigration to US; boat trip to Fall River, Massachusetts; and migration to Chicago; 7/18/1974
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- File: lhgwlspitzer1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:50)... Spitzer worked at a jewelry store in Massachusetts for approximately one year. Then, despite the warnings that Chicago was not a safe place, she moved there at the behest of her aunt. and began working at Scotch Woolen Mills. (2:50-5:26)... The foreman and the assistant floor lady at Scotch Woolen Mills taught Spitzer how to baste sleeve linings. She was paid $1-2 for every bundle of sleeves (50-100 sleeve linings) she basted. Eager to earn more, after a couple of weeks, she asked to be transferred and was placed in the armhole basting section. She was trained by an assistant foreman and recalls that she was paid .06 cents/unit. (5:26-8:57)... The bosses at Scotch Woolen Mills were mean to the women and would sexually harass them. When the shop foreman grabbed her from behind one day, she slapped him. She only was fourteen years old at the time. She left the shop and ran home in tears, where she was greeted by her aunt who had already been notified by the foreman's wife that Spitzer had slapped him for no apparent reason. Because the foreman was known as a womanizer, her aunt surmised what transpired and consoled Spitzer, reassuring her that she would be able to find another job. (8:57-10:17)... After she left Scotch Woolen Mills, Spitzer went to the tailoring district on Market Street to look for another job. She was still very shy and it took her hours to get up the nerve to apply for a position. She was ultimately hired at CB Shane & Company. (10:17-12:59)... Spitzer describes the working conditions at Scotch Woolen Mills, where she averaged a then hour day. She frequently worked longer hours for which she was not compensated. The shop was divided into various sections based on the part of men's coats on which they worked. Workers were paid by the number of coupons they collected after completing this "section work." On many occasions, Spitzer turned in 100 coupons but was only paid for 75. (12:59-18:22)... Scotch Woolen Mills, located on three floors of a large multi-storied building, manufactured men's coats, vests, and pants. The coat section where Spitzer worked was on the tenth floor. The company employed between 500-600 people, and the work was divided along gender lines: men worked as finishers and pressers and women were responsible for less detailed handwork. Spitzer believes that this gendered division of labor was based on the fact that the women were largely unskilled workers compared to the men who had previously worked as tailors in Europe. In passing, she refers to two tailors who operated small shops on her parents' property in Russia. (18:22-20:40)... Spitzer worked at a table when she was employed at Scotch Woolen Mills and although she had to keep her eye on her work, she was able to converse with workers sitting next to her. (20:40-21:28)... Because the the workers at Scotch Woolen Mills were immigrants from various parts of Europe, there were language barriers among them. A large number of the women were Italian, and the rest were from eastern Europe. It was easier for her to communicate with these women because she spoke Polish, Russian, and German. (21:28-23:26)... Spitzer came from a relatively privileged background and felt ashamed when she began working in the garment industry. Tailors and shoemakers in her community were generally poor, working-class people in contrast to her family's status. As a result, she never told her parents where she worked or that she married a shop foreman when she corresponded with them. Even though her husband was an educated man, he could not make a good living doing anything except managing garment shops. (23:26-26:39)... Spitzer was fatigued after finishing her first day of work . When she inured her fingers one day working on overcoats and went home in tears, her aunt told her to quit. She did not want to give up her job because she needed the money. Instead, the next day, she asked the foreman to place her in a new section and began working as an armhole baster. Although the turnover rate in the shop was high, it was difficult to find work and she felt fortunate that her aunt got her the job. (26:39-29:13)... Spitzer notes that the women did not complain about the sexual harassment at Scotch Woolen Mills because they did not want to jeopardize their jobs. Additionally, the foreman's sister-in-law worked in the shop and they were afraid that she would get word to the foreman who would fire them. Spitzer recalls the day the foreman's wife came to the shop to confront a co-worker who she believed was having an affair with her husband. (29:13-31:08)... Spitzer describes her daily routine. She rode the bus and usually began working at 7:30 a.m. even though her shift was not scheduled to begin until 8:00 a.m. On many occasions, she worked passed 6:00 p.m. and only received a thirty-minute lunch break. She did not learn what a coffee break was until after she retired. End of tape. File: lhgwlspitzer2.mp3 (0:00-3:37)... Spitzer wore a blouse, a skirt, and stockings to work. Because she had only two sets of clothing, she washed her undergarments and her clothes every night when she got home. She recalls the time her cousin wore her clothes leaving Spitzer with no choice but to go to work without a bra and panties. This enraged her and when she got to work at CB Shane & Company, she told her girlfriend what happened and she offered to rent a room to Spitzer so that she could move out of her aunt's apartment. (3:37-5:31)... At Scotch Woolen Mills, Spitzer frequently worked late into the evening and was not paid overtime. Her wages were based on the number of coupons she turned in at the end of the week, but she was often not paid for the number she turned in. Because the shop was not organized at the time, she could not complain to the union. In 1915, during the Hart, Schaffner & Marx strike, she approached the picketers and asked for their assistance in organizing CB Shane, where she was working at the time. (5:31-9:53)... Spitzer occasionally went out with her girlfriends after she left work. It is was late, she went home, read the paper and went to bed. Even though she was only fourteen, older men in the shop asked her out. She did not start dating until she was sixteen. After she left Scotch Woolen Mills, she began attending evening courses, but it was difficult for her to go regularly because of her long work hours. Previously, when she lived in Massachusetts, two cousins taught her to speak English. She shifts the discussion briefly to describe the time her foreman at Scotch Woolen Mills tore up her work because she resisted his advances and refused to laugh at his dirty jokes. (9:53-11:25)... Spitzer's aunt got her a job at Scotch Woolen Mills a few days after she arrived in Chicago. Spitzer wanted to be independent and make some money so that she would not have to depend on her aunt; and she wanted to help her aunt financially because she was poor and had to raise five children on her husband's income. Spitzer gave her aunt $2-$3/week for room and board and her aunt gave her ten cents for transportation costs. (11:25-12:39)... Spitzer lived with her aunt on Sawyer and 13th street, which was in the Jewish neighborhood. The surrounding area was basically divided into ethnic enclaves of Polish and Bohemian families, while most of the Jewish families lived between Roosevelt Road and Independence Boulevard. (12:39-13:45)... The bus dropped her off approximately a block from her home, but Spitzer was never afraid to walk alone at night. She and her friends even socialized in the park until midnight without concern for their safety. (13:45-15:24)... Spitzer did not know very much about Chicago when she arrived and her main priority was getting a job so that she could support herself and help her aunt . She also sent money home to her parents once she got established. She learned about the radical movements in the city and later became interested in these political activities. She states that many of the people in the union were were also members of the SP. (15:24-20:17)... Note: the tape is turned off briefly in this segment. Spitzer went to work at Scotch Woolen Mills June, 1914 and left in the early part of 1915, where she was employed at the time of the 1915 strike. She discusses the seasonal variations in the garment industry and how these impacted wages and working conditions. Her foreman at Scotch Woolen Mills laid people off due to personality conflicts or if a worker went to the restroom too much. She believe that she was paid less than the other women in her section because she refused to put up with her foreman's inappropriate behavior. (20:17-25:06)... Spitzer talks about the lessons her mother taught her about how women are supposed to behave. When she was ten years old, her mother had another child; when she asked her mother where the baby came from, she was told that the doctor opened her stomach up and took the baby out. She briefly comments on her father's occupations. In addition to working as a jeweler, he was a Hebrew author and taught in a Russian school. (25:06-27:07)... Spitzer describes starting to menstruate and what her mother told her. The interview ends when Spitzer pauses to obtain childhood photographs. End of tape. File: lhgwlspitzer3.mp3 (0:00-6:13)... Spitzer shows the interviewer childhood photographs, noting that she always looked older than her actual age because of her size. All of her girlfriends were older and she learned about things like menstruation and boys from them. Her interests were more mature than children in her age group and she had a great desire to learn new things. However, she dropped out of school because she was ashamed to be around children her own age because of her size. Her parents were disappointed that she left school, but understood, and hired tutors for her. (6:13-12:26)... Spitzer's parents owned a jewelry stores in Kobrin, Russia, where she was born and raised. Her father was the buyer for the store and her mother ran the business. Her father also worked as a court interpreter for the German and Polish residents who could not speak Russian. He also wrote poetry for a Hebrew paper. As the oldest of six children, Spitzer decided at a very early age that she wanted to work. Since there was no industry of any kind in her town, she asked a cousin who was preparing to immigrate to the US to send for her. She never believed that he would take her seriously, but he was interested in marrying her even though she was only thirteen and he was six or seven years older. Approximately six months after he arrived in the US, he sent her a ticket and $50. (12:26-16:58)... Spitzer prepared herself for the trip to America by helping her mother clean their business and their home and by visiting the dressmaker for clothes and undergarments. She mentions that her parents had a maid to take care of the children and a maid to do the laundry and the heavy household tasks. She arrived in New York on July 3, 1913 and then boarded a boat bound for Fall River, Massachusetts. She had never seen anyone who was Black before and initially was terrified then she saw a Black person on board. When she arrived in Massachusetts, she saw more Black people and her fears dissipated. She immediately went to work at her cousin's jewelry store, working there one year until she decided to move to Chicago. Even though she believes that her parents anticipated that she would marry her cousin once she arrived in the US, they never talked to her about this issue. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Lottie Kaplan Spitzer was an ardent union activist, who organized the shop where she was working in Chicago during the 1915 strike. Born in Kobrin, Russia, the oldest of six children in a relatively affluent family, she emigrated to the US with a friend when she was almost thirteen years old. A cousin in Fall River, Massachusetts, who hoped to marry her, sent her a boat ticket. She worked in his jewelry store briefly and then decided to go to work in an overall factory, to the dismay of her class conscious family. Unhappy in Fall River, once she found a wife for her cousin, she moved to Chicago at the invitation of an aunt. She went to work almost immediately in the garment industry and began organizing the non-union shop where she worked. She continued to organize and advocate for the union for the next three years. From 1918-1935 she was out of the waged labor force, working with her husband, Saul Zeiman, in the several different ventures they tried running a fur coat shop. She returned to the garment industry and union organizing activities, including leafleting for the CIO, in 1935 and continued working until her retirement in 1963. In 1948, she switched from her mixed-gender Local of the ACWA to the Women's Local (275). She particularly enjoyed the companionship of the women and the educational programs. Before retirement in 1963, she married the man who had been her foreman many years earlier and worked with him on establishing a Retirees Center. The interviews with Spitzer were conducted as part of a Senior Honors project by Kris Feichtinger, in collaboration with the Feminist History Research Project. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is one of eight interviews with Lottie Kaplan Spitzer conducted as part of a Senior Honors project in collaboration with the Feminist History Research Project. Spitzer was very cooperative, but also a bit guarded, since she thought the interviewer was affiliated with the union (ACWA). The interviews were conducted at the ACWA Retirees Center, which probably helped Spitzer to remember and focus on her union experiences. On the other hand, it might have reinforced only positive sentiments about the union, particularly since at the time of the interview visits there constituted Spitzer's main social excursion. There is a great deal of overlap and repetitiousness between the interviews, partially because of Spitzer's tendency to go off into different directions in response to the interviewer's question. Clearly, certain events and people represent more salient memories and these are the ones she tends to repeat. Despite some of the repetitiousness, however, the interviews provide a nice picture of the kind of grass roots union organizing that women like her carried out, especially in the 1910s. TOPICS - work in jewelry store, Fall River, Massachusetts; moving to Chicago; job at Scotch Woolen Mills; job training; working conditions; wages and hours; sexual harassment; work operations; worker demographics; gendered division of labor; family background; socioeconomic status; classism; work stress and injuries; and daily schedule;work clothing; social life; sexual harassment at Scotch Woolen Mills; schooling and education; living arrangements,Chicago; neighborhood; radical political movements; working conditions and wages; gender roles; menstruation; childhood; family history; and father's work history;childhood; friends and social life; schooling and education in Russia; expectations; family history; immigration to US; boat trip to Fall River, Massachusetts; and migration to Chicago;
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