The Russian Empire
anti-Semitism: hatred, hostility or discrimination against Jewish people
Gorky, Maksim (1868–1936): excerpts in translation of his poem “Song of the Storm Petrel” are quoted in the novel
Kalinka: a lighthearted Russian folk song
kalyna: Viburnum opulus; a bush with flat white flowers and red berries with medicinal properties and symbolic significance in Ukrainian culture
kopeck: a Russian coin
peddling: to sell goods while traveling from place to place; to promote an idea with persistence
pogrom: an organized massacre, usually pertaining to the Jews in Russia or Eastern Europe
samovar: a metal urn used for boiling water for tea
shtetl: a small town in the Pale of Settlement in which Jews were permitted to live
tsar: the emperor of Russia
yarid: the marketplace where Jews and gentiles met and intermingled to conduct business
The Garment Trade in New York City During the Progressive Era
draper: a garment worker constructing clothing by arranging cloth and setting pins to be stitched in place later
gorilla: strikebreakers hired by the shop owners to physically beat back the striking workers
greenhorn: a newcomer unfamiliar with local customs and procedures
milliner: a person who designs, makes and/or sells hats
piecework: pattern pieces stitched together in the home and paid for according to the amount produced.
presser: a garment worker who irons the cloth
scab: a replacement worker who is brought in while the shop’s employees are on strike. Their presence in the workplace is seen as a violation of trust with their fellow workers and can prolong the strike since the shop is able to continue producing work while the employees are gone
shirtwaist: a woman’s tailored blouse
speedup: an employer’s demand for increased production without additional pay
strike fund: moneys collected via union dues, fund-raising, and charitable donations that pays union members, as it is able, while they are on strike.
sweatshop: a workshop where employees are paid very low wages for long hours of work under poor and often inhumane conditions
tenement: an apartment building usually located in a poor section of a city. During the Progressive Era, these buildings were run-down and rat-infested, a breeding ground for infectious diseases, and a fire hazard
union: an organization of workers formed to protect the rights of its members.
SELECTED SOURCES
Clara Lemlich Papers. TAM 577, boxes 1–4; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Clara Lemlich Shavelson Miscellany. #6131 P. (photographs), #6131 AV. (audiovisual). Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
Gorky, Maksim. “Song of the Stormy Petrel.” Selected Short Stories. Trans. Margaret Wettlin. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1974. 278-279. Print.
Author’s adaptation from Margaret Wettlin’s English translation.
Orleck, Annelise. Common Sense & a Little Fire: Women and
Working-Class Politics in the United States, 1900–1965. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. Print.
Schneiderman, Rose, and Lucy Goldthwaite. All for One. New York: P. S. Eriksson, 1967. Print.
Szalat, Alex, Louisette Kahane, and Ron Rotem. Clara Lemlich: A Strike Leader’s Diary. Brooklyn, NY: First Run/Icarus Films, 2005. Film.
Von Drehle, David. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003. Print.
Weinberg, Sydney S. The World of Our Mothers: The Lives of Jewish Immigrant Women. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. Print.
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