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Simmons, Etta (audio interview #1 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of four interviews with Etta Simmons, conducted in her living room of her modest one-story home in Manhattan Beach. The interview took place shortly after the death of her husband and although she seemed to be adjusting relatively well to being alone, she welcomed the company and enjoyed the attention the interview provided. Simmons was very candid and talked freely about her past. She was often self-critical and self-reflective, using the interviews as a way to analyze her life. Although the interviews reveal a person who has been the victim of unhappy circumstances, off tape Simmons was a lively woman with a good sense of humor. 2/25/1981
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- 2021-04-23
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- *** File: rrresimmons1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:04-5:05)... Simmons was born on April 16, 1916 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents met and married in Boston after their families immigrated to the US from Russia. Her relatives fled Russia in the early 1900s to escape the religious and cultural persecution of Jews. Her mother's family was among the wealthy or middle-class in Russia and disapproved of Simmons' father because of his lower socioeconomic status. Although her parents went to school in Russia, they did not continue their education in America. (5:05-7:02)... Although Simmons could not recall how her grandfathers supported their families in Boston, she believes that her paternal grandfather did odd jobs, including working as a junkman. Her father worked as a presser in a garment factory. He joined the union and became active in union affairs, eventually becoming a business agent for the ILGWU. After he left her mother, he moved to New York where he continued his work as a business agent. He also opened a gas station and eventually returned to the garment industry. Simmons could not recall what type of work her mother did before she married, but she did not contribute to the family income until after her husband left, at which time she did odd jobs for people in the neighborhood. (7:02-10:09)... Simmons' parents married around 1910. She was the third of six children in 1916, preceded by sisters in 1912 and 1914. Her brother was born around 1918 followed by another brother in 1920 and a sister in 1926. During the six-year age gap between Simmons' youngest siblings, her parents were having marital problems and went through a period of separation. (10:09-13:05)... Simmons father did not talk directly to his children about the union. She occasionally heard the word "strike," but did not know what it meant at that time. She often overheard her parents argue about her father's union commitments and her mother's resistance to accompany him to union events. She describes her father as a gregarious man who liked to make an impression by driving his car around the neighborhood. Even though her parents' home was a gathering place for family and friends, the children were excluded from listening to or participating in conversations with adults. (13:05-15:04)... Simmons family moved several times while she was growing up, usually moving to primarily Jewish neighborhoods. As a result of her parents' frequent moving, she went to a several different grammar schools. (15:04-16:54)... Simmons claims that her parents spoke mainly Hebrew [Editor's note: it is more likely that it was Yiddish]. They only spoke Russian when they did not want their children to understand their conversations. Simmons never learned how to speak Hebrew (sic) and her parents did not pressure their children to learn the language. Even though her mother spoke to them in Hebrew (sic), Simmons and her siblings always answered her in English. (16:54-20:05)... Simmons discusses the neighborhoods in which her family lived when she was a young girl. They were predominantly populated with Russian and Polish Jews. On average, her family moved every two years, which was why she attended two different high schools during her adolescent years. (20:05-22:04)... Simmons notes that whenever the family living quarters included a dining room, it was converted into a bedroom to accommodate their large family. She shared a bed and a room with her sisters. (22:04-25:50)... Simmons was responsible for doing the dishes and keeping her room tidy when she was a young girl. When she got older, her chores included doing the laundry and washing the floors. She washed clothes in the bathtub using a washboard. Her brothers were responsible for maintaining the furnace and bringing coal into the house. When they were old enough, they started delivering papers. However, they were still expected to do things around the house. Her family always lived in apartment complexes, and their living quarters were usually rather small. (25:50-29:55)... Simmons describes the games she played with her childhood friends. Most of the games were played out on the street. Although she played with girls when she was at home, she played with both boys and girls when she was at school. She always wore dresses when she was a young girl. End of tape. *** File: rrresimmons2.mp3 (0:03-0:27)... Simmons childhood activities included playing tennis in the street with her girlfriends. (0:27-1:48)... Simmons recalls that the family did go on outings, including picnics, going to the beach, and going for rides in her father's car. Her father was a good swimmer, but he never taught his children how to swim. (1:48-5:04)... Simmons' parents were not Orthodox, but they did observe the Jewish holidays and practiced certain rituals on a weekly basis. The only time that her family went to synagogue was on holidays, during which Simmons spent most of her time outside teasing the boys. She believes that her mother was narrow-minded because she surrounded herself with Jewish people most of her life. As years went by, however, she began to understand non-Jewish ways, which was necessary since most of her children married gentiles. Both of Simmons' brothers went to Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah when they were thirteen years old. Religion in her family was centered on the boys. (5:04-5:31)... Simmons did not like school and cannot recall having a favorite subject. However, she enjoyed reading and thought that she did well in spelling. (5:31-8:33)... Simmons learned tidbits here and there about sex and menstruation through girlfriends and her older sister. She recalls when her friends pointed out a girl in the street who was walking strange and explained to Simmons that "blood comes down your legs and they have to put something between your legs and you are supposed to walk funny." When Simmons started her period, her older sister did not go into detail about what had occurred and simply told Simmons that she was a woman now and to expect her period on a regular basis. Although her mother was too embarrassed to talk to Simmons about menstruation, she provided her with pieces of material to use for protection. Simmons used cloth until Kotex became available. (8:33-12:59)... In high school, Simmons took a "commercial" course and decided that she wanted to work in a clerical field such as typing, bookkeeping or shorthand after she graduated. In high school, she was very self-conscious and didn't pursue any school activities. As a result, she was not a popular student. Her high school was located in an Italian neighborhood and the majority of the student body was Italian, although all of her friends were Jewish. Because she never participated in activities outside of school, she did not know if the Jewish and Italian students mixed socially. Although she had crushes on boys she went to school with, she never dated anyone from high school. (12:59-14:40)... While her parents were together, her family lived comfortably on her father's salary. Their economic status improved when he began working as a business agent for the union and they could afford to purchase luxury items like a car and a radio. When her parents separated and her father left home, her mother had to struggle to make ends meet. Even though Simmons' older sister talks about starving during these years, Simmons recalls that her mother always provided a good meal for her children with the food she could afford to buy. (14:40-16:40)... Simmons discusses what life was like for her family during the Depression. Since they were already poor, their economic status was not seriously affected. She never saw soup kitchens because she did not live in a metropolitan area. However, she was aware that a few of her mother's friends were receiving some form of government aid. When she graduated from high school in 1933, it was impossible to get a clerical job. She eventually got a job at a factory, which she believes was only possible because she knew someone who worked there. (16:40-22:04)... Simmons was devastated when her parents separated and her father told her that he was never coming home again. After they separated, her father sporadically sent money home to help support his children. When their economic situation worsened, her mother got a job at a delicatessen to make ends meet. Simmons brought in some income by baby-sitting when she was in high school. After she graduated, she got a job as a seamstress for the WPA. When she started working in the factory, she made $12 a week, giving 2/3 of it to her mother. She used the remaining $4 for transportation and miscellaneous expenses. Rather than money, her father occasionally sent her clothes; however, most of these outfits were useless because they were too fancy to wear to work. (22:04-25:09)... Simmons worked on a WPA project making men's clothing. She is not certain when or for how long she held this job. She also worked at a liqueur factory in downtown Boston, placing government stamps and product labels on liqueur and cordial bottles, earning $12 a week. End of tape. *** File: rrresimmons3.mp3 (0:03-3:02)... Simmons describes her job at a factory that manufactured liqueurs and cordials. She worked with approximately fifty men and women and remembers socializing with her co-workers on one occasion at a picnic organized by the company. She worked at the factory for approximately a year, during which time she was laid off for a short time and then re-called. She comments on her inability to remember the details of this period in her life. (3:02-5:26)... After Simmons left the liqueur factory, she went to work for the WPA. (Simmons had difficulty identifying the time frame in which she worked these jobs in the previous interview). She found it impossible to get a clerical job because there were so few job opportunities available in that field during the Depression. She was told by many people that it would be difficult for her to get a job anywhere if she did not have connections. She describes how she got the job at the liqueur factory. (5:26-15:16)... Although she was self-conscious about her heavy legs and her dancing abilities, Simmons went to dances when she was a young woman in search of a husband. She promised her mother that she would marry a Jew because her two older sisters married gentiles. Simmons talks about the dances she attended at the Hotel Bradford in downtown Boston. She never found anyone too impressive at these dances and ultimately decided that the atmosphere was "too Jewish for me." She met her fiance at Spanish Gables, a large ballroom on the beach. She discusses their courtship and describes her fiance's family background and personality. Looking back, she ignored many of his bad qualities because he was a nice, Jewish boy that her mother liked. However, his bad behavior eventually caught up with him and her mother banned him from their home, which only pushed Simmons closer to him. With reluctance, Simmons' mother agreed to support her relationship and they were married in a small, Jewish ceremony at home in 1938. (15:16-18:49)... After Simmons married, she and her husband (Al Webber) rented a room and she took up typical domestic life. She became pregnant a few months later and towards the end of her pregnancy they moved in with her mother. However, when she was in the hospital delivering her son, her mother informed her that Al had pawned several of her household items. When Simmons came home, the problems between her husband and mother continued and they decided to leave her mother's home. They were turned away by his aunt in Chelsea, and turned to one one of her girlfriends who agreed to let them live with her and her husband until they could get back on their feet. (18:49-22:34)... During the brief periods Simmons' husband held a job, he worked as a salesman. He usually quit or was fired after he was caught stealing merchandise or embezzling money. Simmons details her husbands background by way of explaining his history of "misbehaving." (22:34-26:55)... Simmons stopped working after she got married. Her husband managed their finances and paid the rent when he was working. After three weeks of living with her girlfriend in Chelsea, the couple was asked to leave because her husband unemployed and not giving them any money for room and board. They then went to Rhode Island and stayed with his relatives until they were asked to leave there; following which they returned to Boston and moved in with another girlfriend and her family. Simmon's husband, Al, got a job with this friend's husband selling produce. After a few days, Simmons and her husband moved out and rented a room for $8 a week. He remained employed as a produce salesman until they decided to move to California. End of tape. *** File: rrresimmons4.mp3 (0:01-3:53)... Simmons had not planned on getting pregnant right away, but she was not disappointed when she did. Her son, Allen, was born in August 1939. It was during his infancy the couple moved around from place to place while her husband searched for work. After he began selling produce with her girlfriend's husband, the two men began talking about moving to California. Although Simmons agreed to go to California, she never thought it would happen and was surprised when her husband made plans for them to move in September 1940. Her mother was opposed to the move, so Simmons waited until they left to mail her mother a letter telling her of their departure. The couple and their infant son drove to California with their friends in an open-air truck they purchased just before the move. (3:53-5:00)... After Simmons became an adult, her relationship with her mother became closer. Her mother began confiding in her more and communicating with her on a mature and equal level. (5:00-9:52)... When they set out for California, Simmons' husband did not have a job or a place for them to live. They had very little money and arrived in California without a penny to their name. They stopped in Arizona and picked grapefruit for cash so that they could feed themselves. When they arrived in California, they drove to Lincoln Heights and found an apartment in an area known as "five points." The landlady agreed to rent rooms to them knowing that they had no money and were unemployed. Her husband tried to make a living by collecting and selling junk. A few weeks later, he was arrested for burglarizing people's garages and selling stolen goods. Simmons lost her apartment and had to move in with friends while her husband was in jail. (9:52-12:50)... After her husband was arrested, she decided that she needed a job. She was hired in the produce section at Boy's Market in South Pasadena, but was fired two days later. Desperate, scared, and feeling that she was an imposition on her friends, she went to a welfare office and applied for assistance. Although her application was rejected, she was offered transportation fare back to Boston on the condition that someone reimburse the office upon her arrival. When she refused to place this burden on her mother, they agreed to give her a two-week stipend of $12 until she found work. She gave this money to her roommates and earned her room and board by baby-sitting. After her husband was released from jail, they rented a one-room apartment with a kitchen and a common bathroom. She got a job at a garment factory in the beginning of 1941. (12:50-14:24)... She was referred to a garment factory by her mother-in-law at the end of 1940 or the beginning of 1941. She worked there after the war started and remembers going on strike after the factory signed a government contract to produce overcoats. By this time, she had been hearing about availability of aircraft jobs and applied. (14:24-16:24)... When Simmons began working in the garment factory, she found a woman in her neighborhood to watch her three-year-old son while she was at work. She dropped her son off in the morning and picked him up in the evening. (16:24-19:51)... The garment factory where Simmons worked manufactured jackets and coats. There were approximately fifty to seventy-five employees working there, mostly Mexican women. The men at the factory were employed as operators and paid a better wage. Employees were paid a piecework rate. She earned approximately $20 to $30 dollars a week. The workers were under a union contract that entitled them to a minimum weekly wage of $16. Simmons later learned that the workers who did not produce enough were required to pay the employer the difference out of their paycheck. She worked eight hours a day, five days a week and found the work to be boring and repetitious. (19:51-24:25)... Simmons managed her work and household responsibilities with no problems. She usually did most of her shopping and household chores on the weekends. Her husband was also working during this period and he made most of the decisions around the house and handled the finances. As the years went by, however, she began to notice more of his flaws commenting: "little by little, I was getting disgusted with his behavior and getting aware of what he wasn't doing for us.... When I started to work more in defense plants was when I became more independent." End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Even though she worked at Lockheed for less than two years, the experience had a profound impact on her. The third of six children, Simmons was born in Boston and raised in various locations in Massachusetts. Immediately after graduating from high school, she began working and from 1936 until her marriage in 1938 worked in a WPA sewing job. She became a full-time homemaker for the next three years, first in Massachusetts and then in Los Angeles, where she moved with her husband infant son, in 1940. In 1941, she went to work as an operator in the garment industry, and a year later began working at Lockheed. Her brief employment at Lockheed seemed to give her the impetus to finally divorce her "ne'er do well" husband. After that, starting in 1944, with a few exceptions, she mainly worked as a sewing machine operator in various factories and at home for the next thirty six years. The interviews with Simmons were conducted shortly after the death of her second, who she had married in 1952. TOPICS - family background and history; parents; housing and living arrangements; ethnic neighborhoods; schooling; urban migration; family life; father's work history and union activities; parents' marital problems; siblingchildhood activities; family life; religion; menstruation; high school; work expectations; socioeconomic status; Depression; parents' marital problems; mother's efforts to support the family; WPA work; factory jobjob at liqueur factory; social life; dance halls; dating; marriage expectations; courtship; wedding; family relationships; husband's background, work history; pregnancy and childbirth; and living arrangements; Thepregnancy; move to California; housing and living arrangements; husband's work; husband's arrest for burglary; welfare assistance; garment factory work; hours, wages and working conditions; work force demographics;
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