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Student Activism in the 1930s
Esther C. Samberg
My first awakening to social consciousness was probably caused by the difficulty I experienced in getting a job after I had been graduated from high school. I soon found that the difficulty was, in large part, due to my Jewish origin. Since that time it has been my good fortune to have friends—particularly the boys—who were liberal-minded. Discussions of a political nature have been no novelty in my home. My parents are young and politically conscious and my brothers, although not in complete agreement with me, have been eager to discuss all our various views. Drifting from one poor job to another, it was impossible not to realize and resent the inequalities of our economic order. One of my jobs, for example, consisted of weighing and packing groceries. I would get up at 5 A.M., prepare my breakfast and lunch (we had no time to go out to eat) and leave home by 6. I then spend two and a half hours traveling on subways and buses to get to the New Jersey plant where I worked. From 8:30 to 12:30 I scooped, snapped bags open, weighed and sealed. At 12:30 we had about twenty minutes for lunch, after which work recommenced, ending where from 7 to 8:30. Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times" was fairly fortunate in comparison. I'd find my fingers closing over imaginary scoops, snapping nebulous bags, adjusting scales which were not around. After a few days my feet were too numb, fortunately, to feel the pain of standing immobile for so may hours. On Saturdays the munificent remuneration of $10.80 was handed out. Of this, the fares usually took about $3. From that job I drifted to one in a theatrical employment agency. I received high-sounding title and $5 a week pay in dimes and quarters and usually borrowed back by my employer. I did gain from that job, however, a slight knowledge of the theatrical business and a veneer of sophistication. Among others, I have worked for a theatrical scenery company, dress manufacturers, furniture manufacturers, department stores, buyers, shoe jobbers and country resorts. Of them all, probably none educated me quite as clearly to the differences in social strata as did my experience in country resorts. The intellectual superiority of the menial staff over the monied guests was so apparent, the endless hours of work and unmentionable salaries so obviously unjust, that I came away slightly embittered and certainly ridden of the little snobbishness I had acquired previously. The finishing touch, of course, has been my work with the National Labor Relations Board for the past two years. Whereas previously I had recognized the existence of social and economic problems, I have now been learning the need of organized effort for their elimination. Through discussion with many labor leaders who have come to my office, study of our cases and interviews with many unfortunate workers whom we cannot help but who must be directed to other agencies, I have gained a perspective of the labor movement, of the organized reactionary and fascistic anti-labor forges, of the difficulties in securing decent working conditions, or even civil liberties, for employees of monopoly capitalists. It was a great shock to me to find articles in the New York Times about the Board which were either half-truths or vicious distortions. I have always regarded the Times as more or less holy, and this brought to me, very concretely and irrefutably, the realization of the need for educating the public to the truth. I knew it was for example, to impress upon them the fact that the Board is not, as is stated by the N.A.M. and the capitalist press, biased in favor of labor, but in reality tied hand and foot and unable to really do very much for labor. Thus, from the awakening to a mistrust of accepted standards, from inquisitiveness as to the underlying causes of things, and from the desire to tell the truth, Came my first activization. When I was approached to work on the A.S.U. Labor Commission at City, I was glad of the chance to present labor's point of view. Of course, A.S.U. membership followed immediately, and last term I was elected Labor Commissioner. I've worked with the A.S.U. two full evenings a week, after work, and after 10:30 P.M., when classes end, the other three nights. Often it has been necessary to give up my Saturdays and Sundays as well. This sudden burst of activity has amazed all my friends. Most of my life ha a been spent in day-dreaming. As a child I had no friends, as I did not like to associate with the dirty, insect-ridden children in Harlem, where I was born and lived till the age of eleven. Then we moved to Brooklyn, where it was still difficult for me to make friends. In high school I was very retiring, although I did make a few close friends. During those years I spent most of my time rearing or writing poetry. The tendency still lingers. However, the most decisive factor in the last few years of my life has been the need to make a living to support my mother and brothers. The responsibility for the support of four other people has opened my eyes to reality, brought me dawn to Earth. Fortunately, most of my work now is done. One of mg brothers was graduated last year from Cooper Union, and how has an appointment with the Federal Government as an engineer. Another is now also working, while the youngest is in high school. They are brilliant boys, and I am rather proud of the part I have had in their development. With my family problems more or less settled and my political development so advanced, I feel free to devote all my spare time to the preservation of democracy and to its advancement. I hope to learn enough here at the Institute to return to my school fit to lead the fight there to rally the students in Roosevelt's support. After that — I don't know. I shall, of course, continue to work with the A.S.U., but hope eventually to go to law school after I receive my degree at City. Perhaps I shall find some meaning in living as a labor lawyer and fighting for the rights of those who cannot carry their own arms. Home | Historical Essay | Documents | Credits |
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