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Letwin, Bessie (audio interview #4 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the fourth and final of four interviews with Bessie Letwin conducted in her home in Westwood for as part of a student project in a women's oral history class at CSULB. Although Letwin was frank and honest, her unprepossessing manner meant that she did not speak at length on any particular subject. Letwin and the interviewer had known eachother for several years and there references to close friends and relatives are not fully explained. Note: it is sometimes difficult to understand Letwin because of her thick accent.
- Date
- 2020-04-23
- Resource Type
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- Campus
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["Submitted by Chloe Pascual (chloe.pascual@csulb.edu) on 2020-04-24T00:39:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 7287957036185592-refbletwin7.mp3: 8311744 bytes, checksum: 187ba6fd8aa9fe7f5c1c04b364d8c6e9 (MD5)", "Made available in DSpace on 2020-04-24T00:39:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 7287957036185592-refbletwin7.mp3: 8311744 bytes, checksum: 187ba6fd8aa9fe7f5c1c04b364d8c6e9 (MD5)"]- Language
- Notes
- *** File: refbletwin7.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:21)... The first time Letwin went to the Soviet Union in 1936, she was distinguished from other Russians by the quality of her clothes. When she returned in the late 1950s, however, the conditions had improved dramatically and there was no difference between her and the other Russians. She traveled alone during her three trips to the Soviet Union. Her husband never accompanied her because it was not possible for both of them to travel together due to family and business obligations. He died in 1956, which preceded her last two trips to the Soviet Union. (3:21-5:58)... Letwin's husband died in his sixties from a heart attack. Widowhood was quite an adjustment for her. They had earlier sold their grocery store and he became a wholesale grocery distributor. After he died, she decided to sell his business as well as their home in Milwaukee and move to California. (5:58-7:27)... After Letwin sold her home in Milwaukee, she rented a small apartment. Her children encouraged her to join them in California because they thought the climate would improve her health. She agreed to move to California only after her mother died. At the time, her mother was living with Letwin's sister in a Jewish neighborhood. She died in the hospital while recovering from a broken hip. She was ninety-two years old. (7:27-8:44)... Letwin went to work as a full-time bookkeeper following her husband's death. Living alone in Milwaukee was just as lonely as it was in California. The only perk to living in Milwaukee was that she had a car. (8:44-10:55)... Letwin left the CP in the 1950s during the height of McCarthyism. She recalls when friends turned the other way and avoided her and her husband upon seeing them on the street because of their association with the CP. The day that Joseph McCarthy died, a former of friend called her on the telephone and wanted to resume their friendship. (10:55-14:05)... Letwin's sons started college when they were in their late teens. Her son Bill obtained a scholarship from the University of Chicago where he majored in economics and went on to pursue a career in that field. Her son Leon also went to the University of Chicago and studied anthropology for three years after which he got a scholarship to a law school in Madison, Wisconsin. He decided to pursue a career in law because he was concerned that his political background would preclude him from finding work with an employer while working for himself would afford him more freedom to be politically active. (14:05-17:25)... Both of Letwin's sons were married when they were in their early twenties. She did not influence their preference in choosing wives, nor did she meddle in their relationships. When she was still in Milwaukee, Letwin was close to Leon's wife and often took care of their children. After they all moved to California, however, their relationship changed because her daughter-in-law was busy with her own life. Letwin was never as close with Bill's wife because they moved to England a few years after marrying. (17:25-22:50)... Letwin has three grandchildren. She is particularly close with one of her grandsons because she developed a bond with him when he was an infant and he shares her interest in learning and education. (22:50-25:46)... While working as a bookkeeper in Milwaukee, Letwin took literature courses at a college extension facility. After moving to California, she continued to educate herself by taking courses at UCLA. It never occurred to her to pursue a degree and a career, stating, "I was after the education for education sake." (25:46-27:20)... Letwin thought the social movements of the 1960s were disorganized and ineffective in achieving any notable gains. While she thought it was "all right to express your discontent... it would [never] be similar to the Russian Revolution." (27:20-33:47)... Letwin thinks that there will always be things in her life that she is proud of and things that she regrets. She never anticipated that she would be a widow. Prior to her husband's death, she did not think about being on her own or having to support herself. During their marriage, they equally shared the responsibilities involved in running their grocery store. It never occurred to her to obtain a degree because she never thought she would need a career. One area of her life that she thought was important was her sons' education. Even though they grew up in a poor, primarily Black neighborhood, she thought it was important for them to go school in their neighborhood even if they were in the minority. Her sons had the desire and ability to succeed in school regardless of their social situation. (33:47-34:37)... Letwin is cavalier about her future, stating, "I'll end up just like everybody else." She fills her time reading and going to school or watching programs on television. She is not happy about where she is living, but does not elaborate on this matter. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Bessie Letwin's radicalism developed during her younger days in Russia before the revolution and continued even after she left the Communist party during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Born in the Ukraine, Letwin had to leave school after two years to help support the family and went to work in a shop selling dress trims. She learned to read and write Yiddish from three students who roomed in her home, and later convinced a cousin to support her attending school in Odessa. While attending a gymnasium there, she was a witness to and participated in some of the activities leading up to the Russian revolution. She met her fiance during WWI and emigrated to the US with him and his family. In Milwaukee, where they joined other members of his family, she went to work in a garment shop, and after her son was born did home work. Some time during this period, she joined the Communist party. Letwin and her husband opened a grocery store and shared responsibility for running the store. Because of the long hours she kept there, she was not active in the CP, but did carry party literature in the store, which earned her the enmity and loss of some customers. In the 1950s, during the height of McCarthyism, Letwin left the CP and notes that she suddenly regained friends who had kept their distance from her. She moved to California in the 1960s after her husband's death, and although she is not very specific about her activities, did remain involved in radical politics. The interview with Bessie Letwin was conducted as a project in a women's oral history class by Susie Bright, who had been involved with one of Letwin's grandchildren in high school radical politics, publishing the University High School alternative paper, The Red Tide. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the fourth and final of four interviews with Bessie Letwin conducted in her home in Westwood for as part of a student project in a women's oral history class at CSULB. Although Letwin was frank and honest, her unprepossessing manner meant that she did not speak at length on any particular subject. Letwin and the interviewer had known eachother for several years and there references to close friends and relatives are not fully explained. Note: it is sometimes difficult to understand Letwin because of her thick accent. TOPICS - trips to the Soviet Union; death of husband and widowhood; moving to California; work as a bookkeeper in Milwaukee; leaving the CP during the McCarthy era; impact of CP membership on friendships; sons' educational backgrounds, careers, and marital relationships; relationship with daughters-in-law and grandchildren; intellectual pursuits; attitude towards the social and political movements of the sixties; and life reflections, regrets, and future expectations;
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7287957036185592-refbletwin7.mp3 | 2023-10-18 | Public | Download |