August 11: On this day in Jewish, feminist and union history

This Day in Jewish History / Leading union organizer and women’s rights advocate dies
Rose Schneiderman, born poor in Poland, went on to lead major textile-workers’ strikes in New York, run for the U.S. Senate and serve as an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
By David B. Green | Aug. 11, 2014

On August 11, 1972, labor leader and political activist Rose Schneiderman died, at the age of 90. In an editorial appearing shortly after her death, The New York Times described her as a “tiny, red-haired bundle of social dynamite [who] did more to upgrade the dignity and living standards of working women than any other American.”

Rose Schneiderman was born on April 6, 1882, in Sawin, near Chelm, in Russian Poland, the oldest of what would be the four children of Samuel Schneiderman and the former Deborah Rothman. Her mother was a seamstress, her father a tailor, although both also did whatever other work was available in order to support the family. At the age of 4, at her mother’s insistence, Rose began heder (Hebrew school), which was far from typical for girls at the time. Two years later, the family moved to Chelm, so that she could attend public school as well.

In 1890, the family joined Samuel, who had already immigrated to New York, taking up residence on the Lower East Side. When Samuel died of meningitis, two years later, Deborah was pregnant with their fourth child. She worked as a seamstress and took in the occasional boarder, but at different points was so desperate financially that she had to put her children into orphanages.

Rose left school at the age of 13, when she was in sixth grade. Her mother got a job for her as a cashier in a department store, which she saw as more respectable than higher-paying factory work, but after three years the need for money led Rose to take a job as a lining stitcher in a cap factory....

For the rest of her story, please follow this link: http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/this-day-in-jewish-history/1.609882