page_title: Nina Samorodin
section_title: "Quiet Life of an Organizer"
hierarchical_section_title: Nina Samorodin / "Quiet Life of an Organizer"
caption_attribution_description: Scope and content: Full caption reads as follows: Washington crowd mobs the White House Pickets. An indignant crowd of real Americans almost did serious damage to the women suffrage pickets in front of the White House, on July 14, 1917. Although the mob started a riot the police subdued them and arrested the suffragists before they could be harmed. In all sixten women pickets were arrested. Six more suffragists were arrested on August 18, 1917, and upon their refusal to pay $10 fine were sent to Occoquan workhouse.
context_page_description: Nina Samorodin was born in Kiev, Russia to a Jewish family. Samorodin took advantage of increasing educational opportunities available to Jews in the city and graduated from Kiev University. After immigrating to the United States in 1914, she became involved in both union and women’s activism. Samorodin was a factory worker and then general organizer of the Shirt Makers’ Union of Philadelphia. 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. Additionally, she taught at the Rand School of Social Science in New York City. However, Samorodin is most well known for her work with the National Woman’s Party.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Washington crowd mobs the White House Pickets