Nina Samorodin (July 4, 1892 – November 28, 1981)[citation needed] was born in Kiev, Russian Empire to a Jewish family. Samorodin took advantage of increasing educational opportunities available to Jews in the city and graduated from Kiev University.[1] After immigrating to the United States in 1914, she became involved in both union and women's activism.[2] Samorodin was a factory worker and then general organizer of the Shirt Makers’ Union of Philadelphia.[3][4] She was the executive secretary of the National Labor Alliance for Trade Relations with and Recognition of Russia. By 1922, she was also the secretary of the Women's Trade-Union League.[5] Additionally, she taught at the Rand School of Social Science in New York City.[1] However, Samorodin is most well known for her work with the National Woman's Party.
Nina Samorodin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Kyiv  |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Suffragist |
Personal life
editSamorodin married Anthony Ramuglia, Italian manager of a labor union, in 1919. Samorodin took Ramuglia's name after their marriage and became known as Nina S. Ramuglia thereafter. Together, they had one son, Anthony Ramuglia, in 1923. By 1938, the Ramuglia family was living in Los Angeles, California, and they had moved to Pasadena, California by 1958. Samorodin died in Fresno, California, in 1981.[citation needed]
Personal inquiries
edit
Samorodin wrote about her self-discovery as a suffragist. A recovered text that Nina wrote explained her confusion as to why females were not seen as equivalent to males in society. Her questions were answered with the simple biological fact that male and female are not mentally equal.[6] Her interest was sparked after she began to research the biological differences between males and females, through which she came to the conclusion that women developed differently than men regardless of circumstances.[6] However, she did stay true to her belief that any working woman should advocate for herself and her representation.[7]
Occoquan Workhouse
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On September 13, 1917, during a peaceful protest, Samorodin carried a banner to one of the White House gates.[8] Accused of obstructing traffic, Samorodin was arrested, tried, sentenced, and incarcerated for thirty days in the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia.[9] While imprisoned, a fellow suffragist named Mary Winsor said that the suffragists in jail would sing the “Occoquan Song,” a tune “set to Russian music by Miss Nina Samorodin.”[10] While in Occoquan, Samarodin demanded for better healthcare and treatment. It was reported that the prisoners were deprived of basic sanitation and hygiene, were served rancid food, and suffered physical mistreatment and beatings for which they were denied critical medical care.[11] Her sister Vera visited her from time to time and noticed her health rapidly depleting and reached out to Russian ambassador in hopes of upgrading her prison treatment by renaming her a “political prisoner” instead of “inmate."[2] Upon release from Occoquan in the fall of 1917, she traveled to New York and taught a course in Russian language instruction at the Rand School of Social Science.[1]
"Quiet Life of an Organizer"
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In September 1918, Samorodin was an organizer for one of the branches of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Her job was to go to shops in Little Italy, New York City and unionize factories. In “The Quiet Life of an Organizer,” Samorodin explained that the union was reluctant to send her to Little Italy because all the previous organizers had been beat up, but Samorodin insisted that she go. Samorodin faced backlash in her attempts to “organize” the factories. Once, she was attacked by three employers and the boss started to choke her. Samorodin recounted this incident and explained that the other women with her at the time fought back, jumping on the boss while the others got the police. Nina and the women escaped, but not without a threat from the boss: “We will get you yet.” Nina explained another instance where a different boss threatened to throw her out a third story window if she tried to organize his factory, telling her it would be his second murder.[12]
Communist involvements
editAfter the 1920s, Samorodin abandoned most of her work with the National Woman's Party and focused her efforts on communist endeavors in America instead.[2] Samorodin became the secretary-treasurer of the Council for the Protection of the Foreign Born, an organization protecting Communist immigrants in America.[citation needed] In 1927, Samorodin invited W.E.B. DuBois to be a member of the advisory board for this council; however, he declined her offer.[13][14] In 1948 during the second “Red Scare,” Nina Samorodin's name was brought up in the “Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities.”[15]
References
edit- ^ a b c Stevens, Doris (1920). Jailed for Freedom. Boni and Liveright.
- ^ a b c "Biographical Sketch of Nina Samorodin | Alexander Street Documents". documents.alexanderstreet.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ Convention, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (1920). Proceedings of the ... Biennial Convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The Convention.
- ^ Kessler-Harris, Alice; Craton, Ann Washington (1976). "The Autobiography of Ann Washington Craton". Signs. 1 (4): 1019–1037. doi:10.1086/493325. ISSN 0097-9740. JSTOR 3173258. S2CID 143812630.
- ^ States, United States Congress House Special Committee on Communist Activities in the United; States, United States Congress House Special Committee to Investigate Communist Propaganda in the United (1930). Investigation of Communist Propaganda: Hearings Before a Special Committee to Investigate Communist Activities in the United States of the House of Representatives, Seventy-first Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to H. Res. 220, Providing for an Investigation of Communist Propaganda in the United States. June 9 and 13 1930. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ a b Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (1917-10-27). The Suffragist. Staten Island Museum. Allied Printing: Columbian Printing Co., Inc., Washington.
- ^ Baker, Jean H. (2002-03-14). Votes for Women: The Struggle for Suffrage Revisited. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190284732.
- ^ "Miss Nina Samarodin, of Kiev, Russia, one of the members of the National Woman's Party, who has served a prison sentence for carrying a suffrage banner to one of the White House gates". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ "Suffragists in Maryland | Turning Point Suffragist Memorial". Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ Rehm, Maggie Amelia (2011-06-30). "The Art of Citizenship: Suffrage Literature as Social Pedagogy". d-scholarship.pitt.edu. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ Martínez, Victoria (2018-11-07). "Faces of Diversity in American First-Wave Feminism". A Bit of History. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ The World Tomorrow. Fellowship Press. 1923.
- ^ "Letter from National Council for Protection of Foreign Born Workers to W. E. B. Du Bois, August 30, 1927". credo.library.umass.edu. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ "Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to National Council for Protection of Foreign Born Workers, November 14, 1927". credo.library.umass.edu. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
- ^ California. Legislature. Senate. Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. San Francisco Public Library.