Clara Lemlich Shavelson1886-1982

By Rachel Struna 8th gradePutnam County Junior High

McNabb, Illinois March 2006

Early Life

• She was born in Kishineu, Ukraine.

• Spoke fluent Russian.• To her parent’s

objection, she wrote letters for her neighbors to earn money for books.

• Moved to the U.S. in 1903

Education

She went to school until she was seventeen years old and spoke fluent Russian and Yiddish. When she moved to America in 1903 she quit regular school to help support her family. Instead she went to night school to learn English.

Religion

Clara Lemlich was a devote Jewish women, attending Synagogue Every week. She often brought her religion into her work. Speaking to large crowds of Jewish women, during the strike of 1909, who only spoke Yiddish.

Adult Life• Clara Lemlich Shavelson spent her long life fighting for trade

unions, women's suffrage, peace, and fair housing and food practices

• Clara became a committed communist in her teens.

• After immigrating to America, Clara began working in a garment factory.

• The poor conditions led her to begin organizing women into the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (I.L.G.W.U.)

Life Struggles

Clara Lemlich had the same struggles that most women had in the early 1900’s. Just being an immigrant women in that time and trying to find a job in America was very difficult. Most shop workers would hire people for little or no pay. If they did try to strike there were plenty of other women without jobs that would gladly take them for less money. Clara always tried her best to speak and learn English and find a job to support her family.

An Uprising

On November 22, 1909, Clara Lemlich and other head members of the I.L.G.W.U., Led an uprising of 20,000 factory women. These women were on a general strike against all factories in New York who were unfair to their workers, especially the shirtwaist factories.

Wedding Bells

• Clara Lemlich married Joe Shavelson in 1913.

• She was the mother of Irving Charles Shavelson.

Later in Life• Moved from New York’s East Side to Brighton Beach.

• Was blacklisted from the garment workers industry for her Union work.

• Became a member of the communist party and a consumer activist.

• Spent her last years as a nursing home resident, helping to organize a staff and housewives for better housing, education, and rent control.

Clara’s Accomplishments• Human Rights Worker

• Labor Leader

• Political Activist

• Public Officer

• Social Reformer

• Member of the I.L.G.W. U (International Ladies Garment Workers Union.)

A Different Place If Clara Lemlich had not been such a big supporter of the Strike of 1909 or the Workers Union, and if she would not have helped recruiting women to join the Union and organizing pickets, a lot of things in history would be different. There might not be a Union still in existence and since she was a big supporter of Women’s right to vote, women would not have been allowed to vote until much later in history, or not allowed at all.

Bibliography

Information

• www.Wickpedia.org

• We Shall Not Be Moved. By Joan Dash

• Jewish Women’s Archive, www.jwa.org/archives

Pictures

• www.ilr.cornell.edu • www.andreageyer.info• www.frif.com• falcon.tamucc.edu • www.bethlehemrivegrove.

org• www.rootsweb.com • www.kiev-ukraine-

information.com • www.lil-inspirations.com