- Jewish working women in New York City “learn to vote” in 1936 from International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) organizers working on behalf of the American Labor Party. The ALP, formerly the New York branch of the National Labor’s Non-Partisan League, an independent party, supported the New Deal, Herbert Lehman for New York governor, and the reelection of President Franklin Roosevelt. The ILGWU, with women numbering 75 percent of the membership, launched an ardent campaign for the ALP candidates to get socialist and union voters who supported Roosevelt but would Page 389 →not vote Democratic. Justice, the official publication of the ILGWU was printed in Yiddish and also in Italian, Spanish, French, and English. The use of Yiddish was crucial in organizing union and voters because it long had been the language of the sweatshop.
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