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| Delegation of Italian Dressmakers, Local 89, ILGWU,
White House, 1934. |
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Eleanor Roosevelt first learned about wages and
working conditions as a young volunteer at the Rivington Street
Settlement House on the lower east side of Manhattan at the
turn of the twentieth century. She never forgot the lessons
she learned there. In 1919, as a mother with young children,
she volunteered as a French translator for the International
Congress of Working Women in Washington, DC, where she met
Rose Scheniderman, a capmaker, member of the International
Ladies' Garment Workers Union, and president of the National
Women's Trade Union League. She joined the NWTUL in 1922 and
introduced her husband to the world of trade union women.
At a WhiteHouse ceremony on March 28, 1934, pictured
above, Sister Margaret Di Maggio, a rank and file member of
the ILGWU, presented a plaque to Mrs. Roosevelt, which read "To
Eleanor Anna Roosevelt from her fellow workers of the Italian
Dressmakers Local 89." According to Justice, the union
paper, the First Lady "conversed amiably with others about
trade union activities among the women, relating several interesting
episodes revealing her own steadfast allegiance to the cause
of labor and political liberty."
A. Philip Randolph and Eleanor Roosevelt,
Convention of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids,
1940, 21st Century Proposal.
In 1936, ER began her syndicated column My Day,
appearing in over 50 newspapers nationwide. As an author and
journalist she joined what is today The Newspaper Guild-CWA.
Despite often vicious criticism, she reached out to garment
workers, miners, electrical workers, and migrants. Her commitment
to labor issues intersected with her deep concern over racial
segregation in her work with A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids. Brother Randolph expressed
his appreciation in a letter.
August 5, 1943
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
WhiteHouse
Washington, D.C.
My dear Mrs. Roosevelt:
Just a word in these days of crisis and of storm
and stress
to express my deep appreciation for the great service you are
rendering in you own way to the cause of democracy in general,
and justice for the Negro people in particular. I need not
tell you that there is a deep affection among the Negro people
for you, because of your forthright and sincere advocacy in
human justice.
Because of your attitude for equality and freedom
for all
people you are the subject of severe criticism among certain
sources, but this has been so with the pioneers of human liberty.
I just wanted to send you this note, and I do
not expect
an answer.
Sincerely yours,
A. Philip Randolph
APR:RB International President
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