Born in Lithuania to a poor Jewish family, Pauline Newman began fighting for rights at a young age. After being refused admittance to the local public school, she sought education at a Jewish all-boys school. She asked the rabbi for special permission, and he allowed her to attend Sunday school. Still, she was not allowed to study religious texts. She convinced her father to let her sit in on the classes he taught. Despite these small victories, Newman was not satisfied with the way women were treated in Judaism. This is ultimately what sparked her passion in women’s rights. After her father’s death in 1901, her family immigrated to New York City.
Newman worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company as a child. She experienced the terrible working conditions in the factory firsthand. At the age of fifteen, she joined the local Socialist Literary Club. Here, she learned about social and political theory and developed her English skills. She also organized study groups with her coworkers at the factory. Organizing these groups of women laid the foundation for the rest of her career as an activist.
During the winter of 1907, she and a group of similar-minded women led a rent strike involving 10,000 families. This strike had a great impact, as it was the largest of its kind that the city had ever seen. After this, the Socialist Party nominated her for secretary of state of New York. Through this, she campaigned for suffrage. She participated in the Shirtwaist Maker’s strike in 1909. Afterwards, Newman was appointed as the general organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. She was the first woman to hold this position. She organized garment workers’ strikes across the country for four years after that. She also campaigned for suffrage in the Women’s Trade Union League.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911 happened only two years after Newman left the factory. She knew many of the 146 victims killed. She worked with the Joint Board of Sanitary Control to improve factory standards, and gained the respect of state legislators. While building a new branch of the WTUL, she met her partner Frieda Miller. In 1923, Newman was appointed as the educational director for the ILGWU. At this job, she promoted medical care for workers. She held the position for 60 years. She served positions in many women’s and laborers’ rights organizations. Miller and Newman were asked by the US Departments of State and labor to examine working conditions in post-WWII Germany.
Pauline Newman spent her entire life fighting for what she believed in. She fought for women’s rights, workers’ rights, and children’s rights. Through her 99 years of life, Newman made great progress for woman workers, particularly in the garment industry. She organized strikes and helped lead organizations. The work she accomplished is truly amazing, and has made a lasting impact on the labor movement and standards in industry.
Sources
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/triangle-newman/
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/newman-pauline
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