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Santora, Mamie (audio interview #1 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Mamie Santora was referred to the Feminist History Research Project by the ACWA, and arrangements were made to interview her during a research trip by Gluck to Washington, D.C. Santora was living in a neat, bungalow in a working class neighborhood of Baltimore. Because she had been recommended by the union, at the time of the first interview, she mistakenly believed that I was with the union. As a result, although she was friendly and cordial, she was guarded in her discussions about the fate of the Women's Locals and the women's desire to form a Women's Bureau or Department in the ACWA. TOPICS - family history; work experiences; education; union organizing; working conditions; chairlady role; strike; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca; Sidney Hillman; Bessie Abramovitz Hillman; appointment to position on Joint Board in Baltimore; election to ACWA General Executive Board; and formation of ACWA;1920 ACWA National Convention; election to ACWA General Executive Board; Baltimore Women's Local (Local 70); position as secretary-treasurer of Baltimore Joint Board; organizing drives in Philadelphia and New England; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca; Sidney Hillman; resolution for women's department, 1924; Women's Locals; working conditions in garment shops and physical effects on women; labor courses education at Bryn Mawr and John Hopkins University; and attitude towards ACWA wages and pension plans; 5/20/1975
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- SUBJECT BIO - Mamie Santora was elected to the ACWA General Executive Board (GEB) in 1920, only the second woman to serve in this capacity. Born in Baltimore, the first of eight children, Santora began to work in her father's tailor shop after she finished 6th grade. When he closed the shop in 1914, she went to work at a clothing factory. Originally joining the IWW, as soon as the ACWA was formed, she joined and became an activist. In 1915 she joined the Women's Local in Baltimore (Local 70, which was actually the Buttonholers Local]. After WWI, when the company for which she worked went out of business, Sidney Hillman appointed her to the Baltimore Joint Board. Following her election to the GEB, she was sent to different eastern cities to work on organizing drives. Santora was on the GEB when women from the Women's Locals in several cities agitated for a Women's Bureau or Women's Department. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Mamie Santora was referred to the Feminist History Research Project by the ACWA, and arrangements were made to interview her during a research trip by Gluck to Washington, D.C. Santora was living in a neat, bungalow in a working class neighborhood of Baltimore. Because she had been recommended by the union, at the time of the first interview, she mistakenly believed that I was with the union. As a result, although she was friendly and cordial, she was guarded in her discussions about the fate of the Women's Locals and the women's desire to form a Women's Bureau or Department in the ACWA. TOPICS - family history; work experiences; education; union organizing; working conditions; chairlady role; strike; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca; Sidney Hillman; Bessie Abramovitz Hillman; appointment to position on Joint Board in Baltimore; election to ACWA General Executive Board; and formation of ACWA;1920 ACWA National Convention; election to ACWA General Executive Board; Baltimore Women's Local (Local 70); position as secretary-treasurer of Baltimore Joint Board; organizing drives in Philadelphia and New England; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca; Sidney Hillman; resolution for women's department, 1924; Women's Locals; working conditions in garment shops and physical effects on women; labor courses education at Bryn Mawr and John Hopkins University; and attitude towards ACWA wages and pension plans;
- File: lhgwmsantora1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:01)... Santora was born on June 25, 1898 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father owned a small tailor shop and he taught her how to sew. When he closed his shop in 1914, she went to work for Strauss & Brothers. (1:01-2:03)... She received only a sixth-grade education. As an adult, however, her experience in the labor movement resulted in her being asked to speak as a guest lecturer at Catholic University in Washington regarding the steel, coal, and iron industries. (2:03-4:30)... Santora's parents immigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia when her father was sixteen and her mother was fourteen. They were schooled in in US and spoke English fluently. Her mother was a housewife and her father worked in the clothing industry until the Depression. At that time, he earned only $10/week. She is the oldest of eight children. When her father became ill, she persuaded him to retire. (4:30-10:15)... Santora's father made men's coats for other tailors in the Baltimore area. He initially operated his business from their home. He earned $10-$15 per coat. One of her responsibilities was delivering these coats to the tailors and collecting her father's pay. Her mother also helped him by doing finishing work on the coats. Her brother, James, attended cutting school and worked at Strauss & Brothers. He became ill as a result of the working conditions in the factory and died at the age of twenty-five. (10:15-15:02)... Santora worked in her father's tailor shop until she was hired at Strauss & Brothers as a buttonhole maker at the age of sixteen. This was a non-union shop that employed more than 1,500 people. She learned about unionism through her father who was a member of the Knights of Labor. In 1914, Santora and Dorothy (Jacobs) Bellanca began knocking on doors and talking to people about the union. Most of the garment workers at that time were employed in non-union shops. She believes that the ACWA was formed in 1915. (15:02-24:39)... Santora began attending union meetings when she was fourteen years old, which is when she met Dorothy (Jacobs) Bellanca and other organizers. She organized her first walkout and strike while she was employed at Strauss & Brothers. She describes how she negotiated with Ely Strauss to resolve the strike. In 1920, she was nominated and elected vice-president of the General Executive Board of the ACWA, retaining the position for thirteen years. (24:39-26:42)... After Santora helped organize workers at Strauss & Brothers, she was not involved in organizing any other garment shops in Baltimore. When the company went out of business after the war, she was unemployed until Sidney Hillman hired her as the secretary and treasurer of the Baltimore Joint Board for $40/week. Between 1921-22, she took labor and management classes at John Hopkins University. (26:42-28:11)... Santora's non-union wage at Strauss & Brothers was .03 per buttonhole. She made four buttonholes in twenty minutes. When the shop was unionized, she got a raise. However, her income decreased because she spent more time attending to her duties as chairlady than sewing buttons. She also was a member of the ACWA Wage and Trade Board. The Local Joint Board often compensated her income for lost time in the shop. She was a member of Local 61 at that time. (28:11-33:54)... Santora was chairlady of all departments at Strauss & Brothers and usually handled the grievances. She discusses her efforts to increase wages according to the type of coat being finished. Business Agents did not mediate disputes on behalf of the union. Workers came to her with their complaints and if she felt they were valid, a shop meeting was held regarding the matter before it was presented to the Wage and Labor Board. (33:54-36:01)... Santora discussed her election as vice-president of the ACWA General Executive Board in 1920. When Strauss & Brothers closed, she was blacklisted by many shop owners and had a difficult time finding work. She eventually got a job at an non-union shop where she worked until she was hired as the secretary-treasurer of the ACWA Joint Board in Baltimore. She attended evening classes to increase her labor relation skills. (36:01-38:17)... Following the 1914 AFL National Convention, the tailors left the union and Sidney Hillman organized the ACWA. Santora admired Hillman and his wife, Bessie Abramovitz. Santora also talks about her friendship with Dorothy (Jacobs) Bellanca. Santora enjoyed her years with the union and explains that she had nothing negative to say about the national office. End of tape. File: lhgwmsantora2.mp3 (0:00-1:10)... Santora attended the ACWA National Convention in Boston in 1920 where she was nominated and elected as the second woman on the General Executive Board. The union Locals in Baltimore nominated. She does not believe there were any other women running for this position at that time. (1:10-2:55)... When she went to work at Strauss & Brothers, she was hesitant to join the Women's Local in Baltimore. She did not join it until 1915. Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca teased her about not wanting to join the Local because Santora thought it was dishonest. (2:55-5:07)... In addition to organizing Strauss & Brothers, she was active in organizing other non-union shops in the Baltimore area. (In a previous interview, she stated that she did not organize any other garment shops in Baltimore). After she was elected to the General Executive Board, Hillman hired her as the secretary-treasurer of the Baltimore Joint Board. She was eventually sent to Connecticut to organize workers in non-union shops. She went to work in these shops and organized from within. She also held meetings outside the workplace to discuss unionism. (5:07-14:46)... When Santora was sent to organize garment workers in Philadelphia, her strategy was to befriend her co-workers by teaching them special skills. At the same time, she discussed unionism in an effort to develop a base of support for the union in the city. Dorothy (Jacobs) Bellanca and Sidney Hillman occasionally visited Philadelphia and spoke to the garment workers Santora organized. It was particularly difficult to organize workers in Philadelphia where employers were anti-union, but she did succeed. Hillman held her in high esteem for her ability to organize workers and negotiate with employers in a peaceful manner. Another success in Philadelphia was her ability to organize a scab shop. (14:46-16:24)... When Santora became a member of the General Executive Board, her organizing activities took place outside the shop. After Strauss & Brothers closed, she had a difficult time finding another job. She worked for a short time at a shop until Sidney Hillman hired her as the secretary-treasurer of the Joint Board. From that time on, she never worked in another garment shop. (16:24-23:24)... Even though a resolution for a Women's Department in the ACWA was passed at the 1924 national convention, union representatives decided that there should not be any "special privileges" because the union represented all of its members regardless of gender. Although she was treated fairly in the ACWA, Santora was aware that women were paid less than men. Santora discusses the purpose of Women's Locals and comments that a women's department may have been beneficial for women in the union. However, she finds that women were often unreliable because of childcare and domestic responsibilities. She digresses regarding her organizing efforts in the New England area. (23:24-25:30)... Santora discusses the union office she opened in Massachusetts so that people would have a place to meet and discuss union matters. Local meetings were held in the office and workers came to the office to handle certain work-related issues. She hired a secretary who supervised the office when she was out of town. (25:30-27:29)... When Santora went on an organizing campaign, she usually made contact with her connections in organizations and churches to discuss unionism. She explains the types of information she discussed when organizing people. The shops she organized in the New England area were primarily shirt manufacturers. (27:29-31:05)... Santora was the vice president of the ACWA General Executive Board for thirteen years, retiring in 1933. There were no other women on the board during that time. She explains the reasons why she declined to run for another term on the board. When she left this position, she continued to do organizational work as a "national officer." The national office paid her salary until she retired. She currently receives a union pension. She talks about her admiration for the ACWA, stating that it was the best union for clothing workers. (31:05-35:42)... Note: the tape recorder is turned off briefly at Santora's request when she starts to discuss a previous employer. Santora describes the poor working conditions in the non-union shops in which she worked. Some were physically debilitating for women, particularly those who worked on "jumping machines" pressing pants. She took forty women to see the mayor to discuss the bad effects of these working conditions on women's bodies. Santora gave lectures at a Catholic university regarding these working conditions. She managed to get scholarships for three women to attend the university to take labor education courses. This leads to a discussion of the courses that she took at Bryn Mawr and at John Hopkins University. (35:42-38:24)... Santora asks that the recorder be turned off and she discusses a previous employer off tape. When the interview resumes, she discusses the ACWA efforts to adjust wages and pension plans according to changes in the economy. Although she appreciates her pension, she believes that she deserves more money based on her years of service. She also discusses the future leadership of the union. End of tape.
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