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Land, Yetta (audio interview #2 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This second interview with Yetta Land, like the first, was conducted in her Berkeley apartment, where she lived with her sister. In the intervening two months since the first interview, Land has listened to the tapes recorded earlier and was disturbed by her "froggy voice." Nevertheless, she agreed to complete the second interview since I had made a special trip to Berkeley to conduct it. Although we agreed on this second occasion to record an additional interview that detailed her representation of the Foley Square defendants in their Smith Act trial, she continued to balk, wanting to wait until her voice sounded better. Years later, after Land moved to Washington to her son's, another attempt by Susan Armitage to continue the interviews failed.
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- 2020-04-23
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- *** File: refyland5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:14)... The interview begins with a continuation of a conversation that began off tape about the Stalin purges. There is also a discussion regarding information covered during the previous interview. (2:14-5:21)... Land joined the International Cigarmakers Union in 1909. She worked in Cleveland as a cigar maker until she married in 1909. When she went to work at a large cigar manufacturing company that was organized by the union, she mistrusted the floor lady and cautioned her co-workers not to confide in her. Land felt that it was important for workers to know who their friends and foes were before "they discussed matters regarding better conditions or a strike...." [Editor's note: in a following segment, Land clarifies that she worked at this factory when she moved to New York after her marriage.] (5:21-13:45)... Land met her husband when he and his business partner rented a room in her parent's home. When he returned to New York, he began sending her love letters; she notes, however: "I had no time or interest to run around with fellows...." He eventually moved back to Cleveland and went to work as a streetcar conductor. Her father was opposed to their relationship for religious reasons and he also believed that her fiance's political views were too radical. They were eventually married in her parent's home. The veil she wore was made from a curtain, which she kept secret from her father because it was not in line with Orthodox customs. She had to borrow money from his aunt to buy his wedding band. While her father was disappointed in the man she married, her mother was distraught over her decision to move to New York following their marriage. (13:45-17:20)... When Land and her husband moved to New York, they rented a small room and cooked their meals on a hot plate, which occasionally ended in disaster. They eventually moved in with her husband's aunt and cousin. Land became close friends with his cousin and confided in her that she was getting bored. She had to convince her husband to support her decision to return to work. While working at a cigar factory in New York, she held meetings in her home to discuss their working conditions. Land and her husband lived in New York for one year, returning to Cleveland in 1910. She gave birth to her first son that same year. (17:20-19:55)... After Land left the cigar factory in New York, she spent most of her free time reading a socialist paper and discussing politics with her husband's cousin. Land did not attend any union meetings while she was in New York; most of her union activities were when she was younger. Even though she believed that unionism "was the only outlet for the workers," she thought that many people in the union movement were reactionary, chauvinistic men. She did not have similar problems with the progressive men in the union who often told her that "they needed more [people] like her." (19:55-24:54)... Land's husband was opposed to her working because he wanted to be the breadwinner. When she told him that she wanted to go back to work because she was bored, he said "he didn't want anybody going around saying 'Archie's got a woman working for him.'" By the time she decided to pursue a law degree he had changed his way of thinking, partly because their sons were grown. When her sons were young, she occupied her time going to political lectures and anti-war demonstrations. Her sons often accompanied her and developed a political consciousness quite early on in their lives. However, when they got older they complained about her doing too much, which was a common gripe expressed by her sister as well. (24:54-26:42)... Shortly after the Russian Revolution, Land's youngest son went to the Soviet Union with a group of people, including Anna Louise Strong. He did not stay in that country for very long because of the language barrier. During the Spanish Civil War, he joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and was injured by shrapnel at the end of the war. (26:42-34:41)... Her oldest son took pre-med in college, but was rejected from medical school when he failed the entrance examination. At that time, Land was representing people involved in streetcar accidents, all of whom were examined by a doctor from the streetcar company and a doctor of her choice. When she talked to her doctor about her son's situation, he told her that her son was probably rejected from medical school because "they don't want any 'red' doctors" in the medical profession. Her son agreed to switch to law on the condition that he work as her secretary while going to law school. She did not make any formal inquiries into her son's rejection from medical school because it would have been difficult to prove that the medical profession discriminated against progressives. The legal field was more lenient in this regard, except when her clientele exceeded most of the lawyers in the city. They tried to steal her clients by telling them she was a "red" and would not have a chance with a judge or a jury. (34:41-39:46)... Her youngest son was an intelligent and brilliant man who preferred to experience life by doing rather than studying books. Prior to joining the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, he worked as a photographer and a pilot. When he went to Spain, he was put in charge of transportation. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, he returned to Cleveland and went to work for a discount company in various capacities, working his way up to an executive position. He tried to influence company policies and business practices from a working-class perspective, which resulted in his colleagues making remarks like, "Oh, I forget. You are Yetta Land's son." While flying home from a business trip in 1960, he was killed when the plane crash. For Land, "that was the closest thing to deranging me." End of tape. *** File: refyland6.mp3 (0:00-18:13)... In 1927-28, Land represented members of the YCL arrested and charged with assault and battery following an altercation with a group of Italian fascists known as the "Black Shirts." Bail was set for her clients because the prosecutor argued that a bunch of "commies and reds" were dangerous to the public. Even though her clients were charged with a misdemeanor, she asked that a jury hear the case because she believed that a conviction resulting in jail time and a criminal record necessitated a jury. During the trial, the arresting officer admitted that he deviated from his routine beat to patrol the area where the Black Shirts were speaking because he anticipated the public would not agree with their fascist propaganda. Following her cross-examination of the Black Shirts, the jury took no time in acquitting her clients. (18:13-26:19)... When Land represented a welfare recipient involved in a confrontation with a social worker, the trial was assigned to the same judge who presided over her trial involving the Black Shirts and the YCL. When he agreed to postpone the trial until Land finished arguing a case in an adjoining courtroom, he decided to send her client to a psychiatrist. During Land's generation, this "was seen as a blemish on the person...." When she questioned his actions in court, he cited her for contempt. She and her client were escorted from the courtroom and taken to a holding area in the jail. Her release was negotiated by the ILD and she never got the chance to see the inside of a jail cell. (26:19-30:18)... Land had great confidence in the jury system. When arguing a case, her strategy in winning the jury over was to focus on one or two jurors she felt would judge the facts of the case without labeling her clients or viewing their actions as criminal. She depended on them to influence the other jurors. Based on her experiences with opportunistic reactionaries in the union, she "did not believe in the goodness of all people" and knew how important it was that there be key people on a jury to sway the other jurors. (30:18-34:33)... When Land made the decision to pursue a career in law, she was prepared to "send a message to the people" by using the courtroom as a political forum. In all of the ILD cases she litigated, the prosecution opened the door for political debate by labeling her clients "reds." It was difficult to avoid discussing politics in cases where her clients were charged with crimes they allegedly committed while expressing their political views. During that period, "there was a witch hunt going on" and the ILD and communism were synonymous, which was far from the truth. Because of the association, however, a large number of communists eventually began working for the ILD. (34:33-40:36)... When Attorney Andy Davis got word that Land managed to build a heavy clientele with the ILD, he approached her about taking on ILD clients. He was under the impression that she made money from these cases even though she rarely, if ever, got paid for the work she did for the ILD. Working with Davis, she found him to be an unprofessional, ineffective lawyer. She developed a great dislike for him after she saw him flick cigar ashes into a stenographer's hair. In court, Davis went out of his way to make friends with the courtroom staff and the prosecutor, and she never knew "whether he was with us or against us." They had many disagreements over ILD cases. When he stopped coming to her office while they were working on a controversial case, she and the ILD director figured "he got cold feet [and] was afraid he would be labeled a red lawyer." End of tape. *** File: refyland7.mp3 (0:00-18:57)... In 1931, Land was invited by the ILD to attend International Youth Day in Youngstown, Ohio. On the day of the festivities, the International Youth League and several hundred people organized parade formations in the public square. Just as the parade got underway, the police rushed the crowd, swinging their batons and making arrests. Land represented more than fifty members of the International Youth League arrested and charged with parading without a permit and disorderly conduct. While examining one of her witnesses during the preliminary trial, the prosecutor fainted and Land rushed to his aid. She was praised for her actions and "one of the bailiffs remarked, 'that woman was nobody's damn fool.'" As soon as the prosecutor recovered, he called for a dismissal. Had this incident not occurred, she believes her clients would have been found guilty. 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 - This second interview with Yetta Land, like the first, was conducted in her Berkeley apartment, where she lived with her sister. In the intervening two months since the first interview, Land has listened to the tapes recorded earlier and was disturbed by her "froggy voice." Nevertheless, she agreed to complete the second interview since I had made a special trip to Berkeley to conduct it. Although we agreed on this second occasion to record an additional interview that detailed her representation of the Foley Square defendants in their Smith Act trial, she continued to balk, wanting to wait until her voice sounded better. Years later, after Land moved to Washington to her son's, another attempt by Susan Armitage to continue the interviews failed. TOPICS - cigar factory work; courtship and wedding; husband's political views; move to New York; living arrangements; social life; husband's attitude about her returning to work; gender roles and expectations; gender discrimination in the union; political activism; anti-war activities; son's academic and career pursuits; red baiting in medical and legal professions; youngest son's political activities and involvement with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade;Black Shirts; YCL trial; confidence in jury system; courtroom strategies; red baiting; public opinion about the ILD; and working on ILD cases;International Youth Day, 1931; International Youth League; police raid on International Youth Day parade; courtroom demeanor;
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3192698846902434-refyland5.mp3 | 2023-10-19 | Public | Download |
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1981765759934065-refyland6.mp3 | 2023-10-19 | Public | Download |
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1719705917123686-refyland7.mp3 | 2023-10-19 | Public | Download |