Jessie Taft Smith

Jessie Taft Smith started organizing at a young age, perhaps influenced by her father, an activist in the ILGWU. She was soapboxing at age 14; at age 16 she went to New England to participate in the 1934 garment strike and was arrested. After high school she went into the laundries and helped to organize them into the union. Blacklisted for this, Jessie took on pseudonyms and went back to organize—something she continued to do throughout her long life. She organized a busload of tenants from the Marble Hill NYCHA housing projects to go to the 1963 March on Washington; organized for workers’ rights, for integration, for women. After a start as a Communist and a Young Pioneer, she led a life of dedication to helping others—and she still does, at age 96½. A retiree from DC 37, as well as 1199, she used to work in Harlem Hospital and walked the picket line as an 1199 member on behalf of DC 37’s organizing campaign.