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Udin, Bessie (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Bessie Udin was interviewed in her home in Claremont in December, 1974, referred to the Feminist History Research Project by a mutual acquaintance. Although she repeatedly belittled how important her story was, she was cooperative and interested in the project. TOPICS - family background and history; father's work history; Jewish community and life in Lithuania; immigration to US; garment work in New Brunswick, Canada; work in shirtwaist industry in Boston; political and social influences; 1905 Russian Revolution; 1913 Shirtwaist Workers strike in Boston; work force demographics; working conditions; WTUL National Conference; organizing dressmakers on behalf of the IWW in Malden; attitude towards WTUL, AFL and IWW; radical activities;IWW organizing; dressmakers strike in Malden, Massachusetts; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; Friends of the Soviet Union; International Fraternal Order Insurance Commission; Jewish Fraternal Order; International Labor Defense; delegation to 1912 WTUL National Conference; working-class attitudes towards WTUL: Boston Waistmakers and Dressmakers strike, 1913; working conditions, wages and hours; marital relationship; birth control; abortion; 12/16/1974
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- 2020-03-26
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- SUBJECT BIO - Bessie Udin had a short-lived, but very active involvement in organizing women clothing workers in Massachusetts in the 1910s. Born in a small town in Lithuania, where she lived in a Jewish ghetto. She was exposed to revolutionary ideology during the abortive 1905 Russian Revolution. She immigrated in 1916, initially joining her brother in Canada, where she got a job in a clothing factory. After a little more than a year, she joined the rest of her family in Boston. There, she was introduced more directly to labor organizing and became a grass roots organizer after she attended a conference of the Women's Trade Union League in 1912. Attracted by the industrial unionism of the IWW, following her participation in the 1913 strike of the Boston Waistmakers, she went to a small town in Massachusetts (Malden?) to help the IWW organize. After she married in 1915 and had her first child in 1916, she moved away from the city and dropped out. In the mid-1920s she became more active in radical groups like the Friends of the Soviet Union and the International Labor Defense. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Bessie Udin was interviewed in her home in Claremont in December, 1974, referred to the Feminist History Research Project by a mutual acquaintance. Although she repeatedly belittled how important her story was, she was cooperative and interested in the project. TOPICS - family background and history; father's work history; Jewish community and life in Lithuania; immigration to US; garment work in New Brunswick, Canada; work in shirtwaist industry in Boston; political and social influences; 1905 Russian Revolution; 1913 Shirtwaist Workers strike in Boston; work force demographics; working conditions; WTUL National Conference; organizing dressmakers on behalf of the IWW in Malden; attitude towards WTUL, AFL and IWW; radical activities;IWW organizing; dressmakers strike in Malden, Massachusetts; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; Friends of the Soviet Union; International Fraternal Order Insurance Commission; Jewish Fraternal Order; International Labor Defense; delegation to 1912 WTUL National Conference; working-class attitudes towards WTUL: Boston Waistmakers and Dressmakers strike, 1913; working conditions, wages and hours; marital relationship; birth control; abortion;
- File: lhgwbudin1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:35)... Note: there are pauses in the beginning of this segment. Udin was born in the early 1890s in a small village in Lithuania. She never knew her birth date because the registrar accepted whiskey or monetary bribes from wealthy Jews in the community to tear out pages of his book so that their sons could avoid military conscription in the Russian army. As a result, the birth records for anyone else listed on that page were destroyed. She was the fourth of ten children, but only nine children survived. Her father supported his family as a businessowner; however, it was a struggle for them to survive. The boys went to a Jewish school and were educated in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian. Her parents spoke Yiddish in the home. (3:35-5:51)... The village where she was raised (Dadga?) was primarily occupied by Jewish families. All the synagogues and the Hebrew teachers lived in her neighborhood. Her parents were orthodox Jews. Both parents contributed to the support of the family: her mother operated a store and her father purchased livestock from peasants, which he butchered and sold at the marketplace. The children also contributed to the household income by selling milk in the summer. (5:51-8:55)... Although Udin's village never experienced a pogrom, the Jewish youths in the community organized self-help groups to defend themselves because they heard about pogroms in Russian cities. Sundays were an unpleasant day of the week for Jews because the peasants came to town and drank all day and raised havoc. Her father knew many of these people and wrote letters for them because they were illiterate. Most of their activities centered around the marketplace. She recalls that the gentiles were Catholics and whenever the priest got tired of their antics, he walked through town with images of Christ in an attempt to quiet the rioters. Udin recalls being amused whenever she witnessed a Catholic praying and practicing his religious rituals. (8:55-15:23)... Udin did not go to school before coming to the US. In 1908, when she was sixteen years old, she and her fourteen-year-old brother immigrated to the US. They were the third group in her family to leave. Her oldest brother immigrated to Canada in 1905 and sent for two more siblings around 1906-07. She describes the seventeen day passage to the US. When the ship landed at Ellis Island, she was met by an aunt who was required to stay with Udin and her brother overnight. They remained with their aunt in New York for approximately a week, and then took a train to New Brunswick, Canada to meet their older brother. Once they arrived in New Brunswick, her brother went to school and she got a job. Eventually, her parents and the rest of her siblings immigrated to the US. (15:23-18:49)... Udin's sewing experience was limited when she began working in the garment industry. While living in Russia, two dressmakers rented a room in her parents' home and they taught her how to hand sew. Her first job in the garment industry was making skirts for a small clothing manufacturer in New Brunswick, Canada. She learned to operate a sewing machine at this factory. The shop was not organized and there were only five girls employed there. When the rest of her family immigrated to the US, she left Canada and joined them in Boston. She went to the textile district of Boston where "hands wanted" signs were posted everywhere. She was hired at a shirtwaist factory. Even though she told them she was experienced, she had never worked on shirtwaists before. The floor lady was patient with her while she learned how to make the garments. She worked from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and received a thirty-minute lunch break. She believes she left this shop because she was dissatisfied with the wages. (18:49-24:34)... Udin began hearing about labor strikes in 1910; however, she did not get involved in union activities until a girlfriend asked her to attend a mass organizing meeting. Although her relatives were not involved in revolutionary or radical activities in Russia, she first learned about labor struggles from the dressmakers that lived in her home. In addition, her older brother and sister attended classes and lectures given by student revolutionaries who taught in their town in the early 1900s. The first Russian book she read was How the Bulgars Got Their Freedom. She recalls the 1905 revolution and a speaker who visited her village to discuss the czar's three-day freedom of speech dictate. When this man was stoned to death in another village, she thought the peasants were ignorant in their allegiance to the czar, who they referred to as their "little father." At a very early age, therefore, Udin was exposed to the social and political struggles in Russia and how they affected the working class. These experiences influenced her to participate in the labor movement in Massachusetts. (24:34-28:49)... The Ladies Shirtwaist and Dressmakers went on strike in 1913. Udin learned about other strikes occurring in the shirtwaist industry after she attended the WTUL National Conference where she heard speeches by Mrs. Raymond Robbins. When Udin went on strike, she was disappointed when a Black co-worker and several native Bostonians refused to participate. The natives were resistant to the union because they thought it was a "foreign" movement. When the strike was settled, Udin did not return to work but decided to help dressmakers who were striking in another Massachusetts city. [Editor's note: She refers to this as Malden.] She was interested in joining this cause after she learned the IWW was involved in organizing these dressmakers. She talks about her attitude towards the AFL and the reasons why she took an interest in the IWW. When that strike was settled, she returned to Boston and went to work for another shirtwaist shop. While there, she organized the shop for the purposes of negotiating a higher piecework rate for a particular garment. The women in the shop went to the WTUL before talking to the boss and he granted them an increase. Most of the women in this shop were natives and even though they participated in this effort, they did not join the union. (28:49-30:03)... She discusses the role of the WTUL in the labor movement. Unlike some working-class women, Udin did not view WTUL women with suspicion because of their socio-economic status. She enjoyed attending their meetings and felt that their views on labor issues were in line with her own. (30:03-34:08)... Udin did not formally join the IWW because she was a member of an AFL union. However, she supported the IWW and helped organize the Propaganda League with others. The purpose of this group was to organize workers into IWW unions. The group disbanded during WWI. When she married in 1915, her IWW and labor union activities ceased because she moved away from the city and found it difficult to attend meetings. Although her husband was a member of the SP when he was a young man, his participation in socialist activities decreased as he got older. He eventually became an IWW supporter through Udin's influence. (34:08-35:38)... She was opposed to WWI and refused to purchase war bonds. Her brother and her husband were active in anti-war protests during the war. One of the ways they expressed their opposition to the war was by not wearing neck ties. Her husband only wore a black tie when it was necessary. (35:38-38:14)... Udin had her first child in 1916 and her third and last child in 1923. After she married, she and her husband moved approximately thirteen miles away from Boston, which was the main reason that she dropped out of the movement. She occasionally went to IWW or labor union activities when her children were old enough to leave at home. During WWI, she suggested that she go back to work because garment workers were making a lot of money during the war. Her husband said that if she went back to work, he would quit his job and stay home with their baby. She decided not to go back to work after he proposed this arrangement. She joined the Friends of the Soviet Union in the 1920s (38:14-40:18)... Even though she never joined the CP, she occasionally attended their meetings and took one or two Marxist classes. In addition to joining the Friends of the Soviet Union, she worked for an organization that sent Jews back to Russia following Joseph Stalin's development of Jewish territories. Udin, however, never thought about going back to Russia. Many of the Jews who went back during this period eventually returned to the US because it was too difficult to support their families in Russia. (40:18-43:00)... After the Palmer Raids, one of her friends was deported. Udin talks about this woman and a photograph of them at an IWW meeting during a Stocking Makers strike. She returns to a discussion of her efforts to organize dressmakers for the IWW in a small town in Massachusetts (Malden). Although unprepared, she was asked to give a speech at the Raincoat Makers headquarters. Even with this experience she was hesitant to define herself as an IWW organizer, stating, "I wouldn't call myself that because I couldn't speak up." End of tape. File: lhgwbudin2.mp3 (0:00-2:18)... Udin discusses her organizing efforts during the dressmakers' strike in Malden, a small town in Massachusetts. She became involved in this strike after attending the WTUL National Conference in Boston and meeting a woman who made mother-of-pearl buttons and another who was a cigar maker, both of whom were active in the IWW during the strike. (2:18-3:22)... Udin recalls hearing Elizabeth Gurley Flynn speak at the Raincoat Makers headquarters in Boston. {Editor's note: she mentions another woman who is probably Margaret Dreir Robins]. She was extremely impressed by these women and learned about the labor movement by reading Flynn's writings. (3:22-4:31)... Udin learned what was happening in the labor movement by corresponding with people, attending lectures, and "tagging" after activists. She was reluctant to define herself as a labor organizer because she was not a public speaker. However, she talked to workers on an individual basis about joining the union and/or the IWW. (4:31-6:17)... Udin believe that Jewish women in the garment industry generally supported the labor movement and were members of a union. She talks about meeting a secretary from a Lowell factory who explained the reasons why manufacturers and US natives were opposed to unionism. (6:17-7:08)... During the Sacco and Vanzetti case, Udin was living on the outskirts of Boston. She did not have an opportunity to participate in efforts to fight the conviction, but she contributed money to their cause. (7:08-8:47)... In addition to being active in the Friends of the Soviet Union, Udin joined the International Fraternal Order Insurance Company in the 1930s. This group was composed of intellectuals, workers, and businessmen interested in lower insurance rates. A branch of this organization was the Jewish Fraternal Order. These groups were ultimately broken up by the authorities because they were considered too progressive. (8:47-15:37)... While working in the garment industry, Udin attended fund-raising tea parties organized by the International Labor Defense. These frequently took place during their thirty-minute lunch break. Udin talks about her delegation to the WTUL National Conference in 1912. She took time off from work because she was told the union would pay her to attend the conference. However, she never received any compensation nor did she ask for any. She enjoyed the conference immensely and never felt anything but great respect for WTUL women. She did not agree with the negative things that many working class women said about the WTUL, commenting: "At that time, I was very ignorant and I took it all in and I liked what I heard." (15:37-19:11)... Although Udin was a member of the Ladies Waistmakers and Dressmakers Local, she had mixed feelings about the women in the Local. She believes that all of the officers were women, and although she initially states that there were men in the local, she then clarifies that the cutters and pressers belonged to separate Locals in the same union. She could not recall if they went on strike when the women did. The women in the shops were not always unified and it was disappointing to her when a strike was called and some of her co-workers refused to participate. During her early years in the garment industry, she did not talk to her co-workers about the IWW because she was not knowledgeable about industrial unions at that time. (19:11-22:58)... Udin provides a chronology of her jobs in the garment industry up to 1915 when she married, describing the working environments and conditions. She was paid a piecework rate and earned approximately $2/day or $12-$18/week. After the 1913 strike, most of the women in the shop where she worked joined the union; however, she could not recall if the shop itself was organized by the union. After this, she quit working and was involved organizing dressmakers for the IWW. When that strike ended, she went back to Boston and went to work for another garment shop where she remained until she married. (22:58-24:11)... Udin never considered keeping her job after she married until WWI broke out and she learned that garment workers were making a lot of money. She suggested to here husband that she return to work during this period. He didn't object, but he wanted a parent at home with their children, which was why he proposed that he quit his job if she decided to go back to work. (24:11-26:27)... Around 1913-14, she began attending weekly birth control lectures given by a woman doctor who was an associate of Margaret Sanger. These lectures educated women about sex and reproduction although she does not recall the doctor talking about the types of contraceptive methods. Many of her friends used pessaries. She had difficulty using a pessary because her uterus was tipped. (26:27-31:26)... Udin was pregnant six times and gave birth to three children. She describes, in detail, the various methods she used to terminate her other pregnancies, indicating that on all three occasions she had to seek medical assistance because of hemorrhaging. When one of her abortions was unsuccessful, a physician gave her a surgical abortion. She did not receive any pain medication during the procedure. (31:26-37:02)... Udin and her friends talked candidly about birth control, contraceptives, and abortion because it was a common concern. She also heard about women performing self-abortions when she was a young girl living in Russia. In addition to pessaries, other contraceptive devices included "packing" a woman's cervix with cotton batting and douching. She believes that women in her social class must have been using contraceptives or self-aborting because the majority of women she knew were having only one or two children. Udin's husband frequently helped her douche after intercourse. He was supportive when she decided to terminate her pregnancies because he felt that it was her body and, therefore, her decision to make. She asked physicians to perform abortions, but they refused because it was a risky procedure and many doctors feared that they would be prosecuted if anything went wrong. (37:02-40:47)... Udin talks again about her efforts to organize workers for the IWW during a dressmakers' strike in Massachusetts. During this period, she remained in an AFL union and paid union dues. AFL organizers tried to elicit her help in organizing workers for the union, but she always felt that the IWW was a "better and stronger union." She recalls a family she became acquainted with during the short time she lived in New York when she first immigrated to the US. They talked about Samuel Gompers and the corruption in the AFL. Even at this early stage she lacked confidence in the AFL. (40:47-44:24)... Udin talks about some of the key IWW organizers she came in contact with during the Dress Makers' strike. There were approximately thirty or forty women involved in the strike and with Udin's assistance, they were able to build up a treasury by the time the strike was settled. She recalls that the women settled for only .005 more than what they made prior to the strike. However, the victory of the strike was that the women were organized. She could not recall whether they joined the IWW or the AFL. End of tape.
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