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Land, Yetta (audio interview #1 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The first of two interviews with Yetta Land was conducted in the Berkeley apartment that she shared with her protective sister. Although Land was more than happy to be interviewed and we established good rapport, her sister frequently intervened and tried to cut the interview short, expressing concern about Land's health.
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- 2020-04-23
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- *** File: refyland1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-6:00)... Land's parents immigrated to America from Russia in the late 1880s and settled in Warren, Ohio. She was the second of six children. The family lived on a farm outside Warren for several years, and Land did not go to school until they moved back to Warren. Her father supported his family by selling scrap metal and teaching Hebrew to Jewish children in the community. However, her parents struggled to stay afloat. All the children were expected to help out around the house. While her older sister helped their mother with domestic chores, Land helped her father outside milking cows and cultivating a vegetable garden. She idolized her father and describes him as a selfless man who sacrificed everything for his children. (6:00-10:51)... Land recalls that she was the oldest in the class when she attended second grade and that she had to rush to and from school in order to complete her household responsibilities. She compared herself to her classmates and realized that she was from a lower social class. After the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, she received a letter from her former teacher, who told Land about the death of her brother. Land was impressed and honored by the fact that her teacher would take the time out to write to her about such personal information. She developed an even greater admiration for this woman and began to have aspirations for a teaching career. (10:51-18:06)... Land went to school in Cleveland for about a year before leaving to go to work in a cigar factory to help her family financially. She started out doing piecework stripping tobacco, which involved separating the stem from the leaf. She worked ten hours a day for about $2/week. Both the owner of the factory and most of the workers were Orthodox Jews so the factory was closed on Saturdays. The factory lacked proper ventilation and was filled with tobacco fumes in the morning, causing respiratory congestion problems for the workers. They had little opportunity to improve their working conditions because the boss told them not to complain if his yarmulke (skullcap) was tilted to the side, which was the case most of the time. (18:06-18:55)... There was not a reader in the factory where she worked.* However, she recalls hearing about Rose Stokes; commenting that they "were aiming to emulate her because we all had big ideas of what we would be when we grew up." Editor's note: because the work was relatively quiet and routine, many cigar factories had someone who read to them as they worked. This was particularly prevalent in the Florida cigar factories, though others also had readers. Dora Rosenzweig, a former cigar worker recounts how she read to her fellow workers part of the workday. See Women's Lives/Women's Work series. (18:55-23:02)... The second cigar factory Land worked at was owned by brothers who were friendly towards the workers because they wanted to keep their eyes on what went on in the factory at all times. Land decided to organize the workers in order to develop methods to resolve their complaints. The workers met in homes to discuss these matters and she was elected shop steward. They also attended a meeting organized by the International Cigar Makers Union with about two hundred cigarmakers. During this time, Land was working in the factory as a tobacco roller. (23:02-24:03)... The process between tobacco stripping and rolling was booking, which entailed using water to smooth the tobacco leaf out on a round, wood block. They were not allowed to use too much water because it gave the cigar an exaggerated weight. (24:03-32:49)... At the second cigar factory where Land worked, she approached her boss about the working conditions in the shop. At issue was the quality of the tobacco, which was rough and brittle and often broke during the rolling process, which resulted in lower production and less pay. She also suggested that workers be allowed to start their shifts later and that the factory be better ventilated so they were not inundated with tobacco fumes when they came to work. Although he listened to her complaints, he did not make any attempts to resolve these issues. When she told him that their situation had to be changed, he remarked, "Oh, so socialism has to start with Brunstein's factory?" She replied that if socialism meant they would have a better way of life, then it would have to start with them. Land then called a strike and all but a few workers walked out. She was thirteen at the time and was one of the younger girls at the factory. After meeting in her home to develop a strategy, the workers picketed the factory. (32:49-38:34)... While on strike, Land and her co-workers attended a meeting at the cigarmakers local, and she was elected recording secretary. She was only fourteen years old. Land encountered little or no resistance from the men. Her level of education and ability to speak English made her a better candidate than most of the people in the local. (38:34-42:33)... The cigarmakers local supported Land's strike at the Brunstein factory. Although volunteers helped them picket, the union did not provide any monetary benefits to the strikers. She does not know how many picketers joined the union besides herself. During the strike, a woman who stayed in the shop visited Land in her home and tried to coax her to end the strike. Knowing that this woman would relate everything back to their boss, Land told her that they would not end the strike now that they had the union behind them. A short time later, the Brunsteins moved their factory out of Cleveland to a city where workers were not represented by a union. Land and many of her co-workers went to work at a cigar factory where conditions were a little better. End of tape. *** File: refyland2.mp3 (0:00-2:00)... Land realized at a very early age that her parents were struggling to feed their children. She observed the way her mother stretched meals out over several days so that the family could eat every night. She would dream of the day when she was married and could eat something like a can of salmon without having to share it with anyone. She was conscious of the fact that her family's socioeconomic status was far below many of the families in the community. These experiences shaped her views about working class struggles. (2:00-7:01)... Land first heard about Emma Goldman from people in the cigarmakers local. She helped set up a lecture venue for Goldman could speak to cigarmakers. Although she recalls very little about Goldman's speech, she was impressed and inspired by her. Land did not align herself with the anarchist movement, but worked with them later during the Sacco-Vanzetti trial. Following Goldman's lecture, Land attended a union meeting. When she was summarily ignored by the chairman, she stood up and angrily asked if anyone cared to hear from someone wearing a dress. The audience exploded in laughter and the chairman gave her the floor. When she finished making her point, she received an applause from the crowd. (7:01-8:19)... After the Brunstein cigar factory moved out of Cleveland to avoid unionization, she went to work at a large cigar factory. This factory was not a union shop and she eventually left there in search of a better paying shop. (8:19-18:41)... Land looked forward to the day when she would no longer have to turn her wages over to her parents and could save enough money to go to school. However, she had no idea what she would study in school or what type of career she would pursue. Her parents made extra money by renting a room in their house, which was how she met her future husband, Archie Land, a businessman from New York. They married when she was twenty and he was twenty-four. They had two sons and she remembers those years being the best of her life. Her husband went to work as a conductor after his manufacturing company closed. They lived under much better circumstances than she was accustomed to while living with her family. (18:41-27:34)... When her sons were four and eight, Land enrolled in a school affiliated with Baldwin College. She describes it as being like "reborn." After acquiring her high-school diploma, she spent the next two years accumulating college credits. Land decided to pursue a law degree while sitting in on Eugene V. Debs' trial for violating the Espionage Act. She was so impressed when she heard Debs given an anti-war speech in which he stated: "Mothers, you did not raise yours sons to be used for cannon fodder." During his trial, she was disappointed by the legal representation he received and the way the trial was conducted. She recalls Debs' statement to the jury and the prosecutor's closing argument. After he was convicted, she and her family visited the prison where he was sentenced on several occasions. (27:34-30:46)... Before going to law school, Land sought the advice of a woman who was a dean at a university in Cleveland. She was thinking about pursuing a law degree because she felt that people like Eugene V. Debs "needed a working-class lawyer" to represent them. Reluctant to admit that she wanted to go into law, Land told the dean that she was interested in a career that would enable her to talk to people. The dean suggested that she go into public speaking, and when Land then brought up the option of law, the dean was very ambivalent. There were only three women pursuing law degrees at the same time as Land. After these women received their degrees, however, they went to work as legal secretaries. Land's husband was very supportive and proud of her efforts to pursue a law degree. (30:46-32:47)... By the time Land enrolled in law school, she was a socialist. She was involved in Charles Ruthenberg's campaign when he ran for president on the SP ticket. Her husband was slowly coming around to socialism, but did not completely align himself with the party until he began collecting donations to aid in the efforts to get Thomas Mooney released from prison. During the 1919 factional disputes in the SP, Land aligned herself with William Z. Foster. (32:47-37:22)... After obtaining her law degree, Land rented an office at a law firm and opened her practice. She mailed out announcements and waited for a response, mending socks while waiting for business. A short time later, she was contacted by a dentist who wanted to hire her for debt collection services. She was hesitant to accept his offer because she did not want to take money away from people who were already struggling. When he told her that she could use her discretion when deciding whether or not to collect debts, she accepted the business and "not only did I get a clientele out of this batch of debtors, but I never got to mend those stockings...." (37:22-43:45)... Some of the debtors Land negotiated settlements with were members of the ILD. When the secretary of the ILD asked her if she would be interested in handling their cases on a pro bono basis, she accepted the offer because she thought that people without means were entitled to have their civil rights protected. It didn't take long for word to get around that she was both an honest and capable lawyer. A few years later, when columnist Joseph North asked for some material for a piece he was writing, she suggested that he title his piece "I Started With Three Strikes Against Me." This is what she was told when she applied for a position at the Legal Aid Society, a firm operated by the legal team of Clark & Costello. End of tape. *** File: refyland3.mp3 (0:00-2:27)... When Land applied for work at the Legal Aid Society, she was told they would not hire her because she had three strikes against her: she was a woman, she was a Jew, and she represented communists. When she questioned them regarding the reason why they had an issue with her gender, she was told that the men in the firm often told off-color jokes during their daily office meetings and they would feel uncomfortable if a woman was present. Looking back, she is grateful she did not get the job because she would have been relegated to specific cases and she would not have had many opportunities to branch out into other areas of legal expertise. (2:27-6:34)... At the time that Land started practicing law, her husband left his job as a conductor and went into real estate. When the Depression hit, he was left with foreclosures and deficiency judgments and her income went towards resolving those debts. During the Depression, she got involved in the Unemployment Councils in Cleveland. She notes: "I had many run-ins with judges who regarded me a pretty red lawyer." (6:34-11:50)... During the Depression, Land represented a woman who was charged with assault and battery against a social worker which allegedly occurred during an in-home visit. When the social worker noted fresh vegetables on the table, she surmised that the woman was not in need of public assistance. The woman grabbed the social worker by the hand and showed her the garden in her backyard. Land ran into problems with the court when she requested a jury trial. A jury was ultimately approved to hear the case and her client was acquitted. However, Land did not score any points with the court or the jury commissioner for insisting on a jury. (11:50-19:27)... Land encountered opposition when she ran for a judgeship in Cleveland because of her opinions on cases involving working class and radical defendants. She once defended a woman charged with first degree murder for hanging her husband. When the judge suggested that her client plead out to second degree murder, Land rejected the plea and decided to take her chances with a jury. During the trial, the body of the victim was exhumed and the fate of her client lay in the coroner's findings. Land describes her cross-examination of the coroner. After the jury acquitted her client, they congratulated her and the defendant outside the courtroom. (19:27-26:46)... While Land's son was in law school, he worked for her as a legal secretary. When he graduated in 1936, they opened up the Law Firm of Land & Land and continued to operate out of an office located in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers building. Like Land, her son handled cases dealing with political and civil rights issues. Whenever a case came into their office, they discussed the facts of the case and he meticulously researched the applicable legal references. She was often complemented on her son's legal abilities by both her opponents and clients. (26:14-37:13)... Land came out of retirement to work on criminal syndicalist cases and Smith Act violations. A particularly lengthy case she worked on was the Foley Square trial. Another important case she handled on behalf of the ILD involved workers who were arrested for distributing leaflets protesting their working conditions at a bucket factory in Ohio. In fact, the leaflets were copies of the state constitution. Although Land successfully proved the innocence of her clients based on this fact, the judge refused to dismiss the case and handed down a guilty verdict. She filed for a reversal of judgment with the Cleveland Court of Appeals and the case was heard by a visiting group of judges because of the controversial nature of the case. The judgment was reversed and the presiding judge congratulated her following the trial. (37:13-45:32)... Even though Land was considered a "red" lawyer, she was respected by most of her colleagues with the exception of a one or two judges. She also was known for her willingness to take on Black clients. She was embarrassed when a Black newspaper, in an attempt to praise her work with the Black community, unwittingly mentioned that she lost all but two of these cases out of 500. She felt bad for her poor track record, but worked hard to keep Blacks out of trouble. One of the cases she won involved a elderly Black man who was arrested just because he was walking around at night. When he was charged with assaulting a police officer, Land argued that the police officer's hand was injured when he hit her client in the mouth. End of tape. *** File: refyland4.mp3 (0:04-3:43)... Land does not know how many cases she lost involving political radicals and freedom of speech/civil rights issues, but believes she handled approximately a thousand of these types of cases over the course of her career. The other part of her caseload dealt with criminal and monetary matters, the majority of which she won. She practiced law in twenty counties within Ohio and occasionally litigated cases in other states, including one dealing with eighteen coalminers in Virginia who were accused of arson. (3:43-23:09)... In 1938, Land ran for municipal judge and was quoted in the newspaper's "Joke of the Day" series saying, "You know everything is possible and it is quite possible that I may not win." After she lost the election, she entered the hospital for the first of five back operations to repair an injury she incurred while leaving her office building. The newspapers reacted to her hospitalization by noting: "It goes to prove that a woman has no business in politics." Following one of her operations, the incision did not heal and she had to work with an open wound in her back. When she discovered a piece of bone protruding from the incision, it was removed and the incision finally healed. It was difficult for her to stand because of nerve damage and she had to use crutches to get around. In 1948, she received a fifth operation, which left her body crooked. At that time, she retired from law. (23:09-36:52)... One of Land's ILD cases involved a group of coalminers charged with arson. When she visited her clients in jail, she learned that one of the miners was placed in a separate cell because he agreed to testify against the defendants. She introduced herself to the witness and tried to get to know him on a personal level as a method of finding out what he witnessed. After visiting his family, she informed him that the sheriff was regularly visiting his home and making sexual overtures towards his wife. The witness then revealed to her that the sheriff promised to make him a deputy if he testified against the defendants. After the witness repeated this in court during her cross-examination, the judge dismissed the case and her clients were exonerated. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Yetta Land, who became an attorney after her sons were grown, represented mainly leftist and working class clients. She came out of retirement to serve as one of the attorneys in the Foley Square Smith Act trials of communist leaders in the late 1940s. Born in Warren, Ohio and raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, Land went to work in a cigar factory at the age of thirteen in order to help with the family finances. From the start, she was outspoken and challenged the male chauvinism of the members of the International Cigar Makers Union. Her outspokenness and command of English led to her election to a union position at the age of fourteen. After she married, she moved with her husband to New York, and worked in a cigar factory there only briefly. Back in Cleveland, after her sons were born, she remained at home but pursued political activity, particularly related to the Communist party. Witnessing the Debs sedition trial in 1917, she became convinced of the need for lawyers who would represent workers, and in 1921, after her sons were grown, made up credits to enable her to enter law school. She began practicing law in 1926, handling cases for the International Labor Defense, among others. Known as a "red" lawyer, she did not try to hide her CP affiliation and in 1935 ran openly as the communist Candidate for Attorney General of the State of Ohio. In 1949, Land came out of retirement to serve as on the legal team of the Communist party leaders. on trial under the Smith Act, a case that came to be known as the Foley Square trial. Unfortunately, the details of Land's participation in this trial were never recorded. She repeatedly postponed additional interviews, claiming that she wanted to wait until her "froggy" voice had improved. Between Land's reticence to record her "froggy" voice, her intermittent health problems and her sister's protectiveness, we were never able to complete her oral history. Despite these real impediments, I also wondered if she was trying to avoid the discussion of the Smith Act trials and her much later split with the CP, which was motivated not by the Kruschev revelations but by the party's later stance on Israel. Four years later, in 1980, after she moved to her son's in the Pullman, Washington area, a colleague there attempted unsuccessfully to complete the oral history of Land. Nevertheless, the interviews that were successfully recorded provide a revealing glimpse into the life, politics and law practice of this outspoken woman. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - The first of two interviews with Yetta Land was conducted in the Berkeley apartment that she shared with her protective sister. Although Land was more than happy to be interviewed and we established good rapport, her sister frequently intervened and tried to cut the interview short, expressing concern about Land's health. TOPICS - family background; family life; household responsibilities; schooling; cigar making; unionism; shop steward election; socialist beliefs; International Cigar Makers Union; union offices; strike; wages and hours; and working conditions;family life; socioeconomic status; political development; Emma Goldman; gender discrimination; educational aspirations; household responsibilities; courtship; husband's career and work history; children and family life; Eugene V; Debs; law school; law practice; ILD; and factionalism in SP;gender discrimination; husband's work history; Depression; legal cases; reputation; practicing law with her son; ILD cases; civil liberties; African American clients; and civil rights cases;law practice; gender discrimination; health;
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