Elaine Leeder Collection of Rose Pesotta Papers

Born Rakhel Peisoty in Derazhnia, Ukraine in 1896 to grain merchants, Pesotta was well educated and influenced by the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will), and eventually adopted anarchist views.

Pesotta emigrated to New York City at the age of 17 (1913), and found employment in a shirtwaist factory, she joined the ILGWU very soon after. The ILGWU was a union that represented mostly Jewish and Latina female garment workers. She was elected to the all male executive board of ILGWU Local 25 in 1920. Pesotta went to Brookwood Labor College for two years in the 1920s.

In 1933 the union sent her to Los Angeles to organize the garment workers there. The organizing of the Mexican immigrant garment workers lead to the Los Angeles Garment workers Strike of 1933. As a result of this success, she was made vice-president of the union in 1934.

In 1944, she resigned from the executive board of the union in protest of the fact that, despite 85% of the union's memebership were women, she was the sole female executive member.

Rose Pesotta died in 1965.



1896 Born in Derazhnya, Russia, November 20

1909-12 Attended Rosalia Davidoffs private girls' School

1913 Arrived in USA with her grandmother

1914 Joined Local 25, ILGWU

1914-24 Worked as a seamstress

1919 Theodore Kushnarev deported to Russia

Father dies in Derazhnya

1922 Attended Bryn Mawr summer school

Researched Sacco Vanzetti case for Local 25

1924-26 Attended Brookwood Labor College

1926-33 Worked as a seamstress in NYC

1930 Attended Wisconsin summer school

1933 Organized in Los Angeles for ILGWU

1934 Elected Vice-President of ILGWU

Sent to Puerto Rico to organize seamstresses

1935 Organized in Seattle

Organized in Buffalo

1936 Organized rubber workers in Akron

Began involvement with Powers Hapgood

Organized in Montreal

1937 Organized auto workers in Flint for CIO

Returned to Montreal to organize

Reelected to second term as vice president

Slashed by razor during Cleveland Knitting Mill Strike

1942 Vacation in Mexico

1944 Resigned as ILGWU vice president

Published "Bread Upon the Waters"

1945 Worked for Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith

1946 Traveled to Norway, Sweden, Poland

Resigned from ADL and returned to New York City as a seamstress

1949 Worked as Midwest regional director for the American Trade Union Council of the Histadrut

Death of Powers Hapgood

1950 Visited Europe and Israel

1955 Married Albert Martin (Frank Lopez)

1958 Published "Days of Our Lives"

1965 Died in Miami, Florida on December 6