Frances Axler Goldin (June 22, 1924- May 16, 2020) was a

housing rights Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

activist and

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. She was a founding member of the Metropolitan Council on Housing and the Cooper Square Committee. Beginning in 1959, she led a successful campaign to defeat an urban renewal plan of

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

, which would have replaced historic, affordable housing with a freeway in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

. For decades, Goldin was associated with the Lower East Side, where she was a neighborhood preservationist and community figure. The 175 Essex Building of

Essex Crossing Essex Crossing is an under-construction mixed-use development in New York City's Lower East Side, at the intersection of Delancey Street and Essex Street just north of Seward Park. Essex Crossing will comprise nearly of space on and will cost ...

is named in her honor, and she was profiled in the documentary ''It Took 50 Years''.

Early life

Frances Goldin was born on June 22, 1924, and she grew up in

Springfield Gardens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Her parents were

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. Her father, Michael Axler, was a

toolmaker Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing industries. Variations on the name include tool maker, toolmaker, die maker, diemaker, mold maker, moldmaker or tool jig and die-maker depending on which area of concent ...

and

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and ...

for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Frances described him as a "freethinker" and "very much a

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

man." Her mother, Sophie (Saslowsky) Axler, was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

and former

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

who had been fired due to her union activity. Frances had a difficult youth; she described her childhood as "miserable." Her neighborhood was almost entirely Christian. She experienced

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, and bricks flew at her family's window when they lit candles on Friday night for Shabbat on at least two occasions. She also experienced

class discrimination Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense ...

as a child. Many of the neighborhood families were wealthier, and neighborhood fathers often worked in business capacities. As she later explained, "I hated where we lived... We were one of nine Jewish families. The other eight Jewish families were shopkeepers. My father was a worker. So we were shunned by the non-Jews and shunned by the Jews, because my father worked with his hands." As a teen, Goldin attended Andrew Jackson High School, where she was

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...

. Her parents expected her to become a traditional Jewish wife. Her mother wanted her to go to

secretarial school A secretarial school or secretarial college is an educational institution that specializes in teaching its students to work as a secretary. The entry requirements for the profession of secretary in the 19th and 20th centuries were low: having short ...

rather than college. During this time, Goldin met

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

while working at the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

, and "they quickly converted me." When Goldin was 19 years old, she joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. She enrolled in the

Jefferson School of Social Science The Jefferson School of Social Science was an adult education institution of the Communist Party USA located in New York City. The so-called "Jeff School" was launched in 1944 as a successor to the party's New York Workers School, albeit skewed more ...

, an adult education school that was founded and managed by the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

. At Jefferson, Goldin studied the history of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, and she read

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' In 1944, when Frances was 20 years old, she married Morris Goldin. The couple had met through the Communist Party. Morris was also a party member, and he was a leader of the Government Workers’ Union. The couple moved to the Lower East Side in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, where they lived in a one-bedroom apartment in the fourth floor of a building. In the Lower East Side, she found "

nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

." She explained, "It was amazing to see people of different nationalities, colors, opinions, living together in harmony. And what bound them was poverty."

Early activism

Goldin first became involved with housing rights activism when she visited the Lower East Side Tenement and Consumer Council. At the time, she wanted to confirm that she was being charged the correct rent ($65 per month) by her landlord. After confirming that this was the case, "...they said, 'You seem intelligent, would you like to come work in the tenant council and help us out?' I said sure, and I’ve worked with the tenant council ever since. I never left," as she explained in an interview. In some of her early work, Frances helped translate and interpret for Yiddish speakers at the tenant clinic. She also met with local

American Labor Party The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of ...

organizers. In 1950, when she was 27 years old, Goldin ran for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

, as part of the American Labor Party. The ticket also included

W.E.B. DuBois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

. Due to these political activities, the Goldins were

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

and under surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This resulted in her husband losing his job, and Frances became the sole income earner in the family. She supported the family by working as a

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

Cooper Square activism

In 1959, she led an effort to oppose a Robert Moses plan to bulldoze twelve blocks of the Lower East Side, which was marketed as "

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of bligh ...

." The plan was to build a proposed Cross-Manhattan Expressway, so that wealthy residents could more easily commute to

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

. Through these efforts, Goldin co-founded Cooper Square Committee, along with Thelma Burdick and Walter Thabit. The Committee advocates for

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

and tenant rights. In 1961, the Committee released Alternate Plan for Cooper Square, which proposed the building of public housing on vacant lots. Through their pressures, a vote was made by the

New York City Board of Estimate The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...

, which adopted the Alternate Plan for Cooper Square. In total, the work of Goldin and the Committee saved 328 tenement apartments, and an additional 530 income-restricted apartments were later built in

Cooper Square __NOTOC__ Cooper Square is a junction of streets in Lower Manhattan in New York City located at the confluence of the neighborhoods of Bowery to the south, NoHo to the west and southwest, Greenwich Village to the west and northwest, the East V ...

. Despite these efforts, the Committee struggled to find wider support in local government until

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enteri ...

became mayor. In 1990, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which stated that they would oversee affordable housing development in neighborhood under the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association. Finally, in 2012, the Committee's plan came to fruition, after years of activism, when the city decided to develop a housing cooperative, where residents could buy their apartments for as little as $250 per unit. She said, "We organized and demonstrated and finally beat obert Moses50 years later." The story of Cooper Square Committee has inspired other local groups that advocate for the poor in New York City, such as Picture the Homeless. Goldin was also a founding member of the Metropolitan Council for Housing, and she became an advocate for

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

rights.

Seward Park activism

In the 1960s, Goldin was involved in the movement that advocated for former tenants of Seward Park. In total, 1800 residents had been displaced by Seward Park Urban Renewal Area on

Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Broo ...

, with the evacuation process largely completed by 1959. The effort was initially led by Robert Moses, as part of his Slum Clearance Committee, and then continued to be led by other organizations and interests. Goldin advocated for the right of the former tenants to return to their homes. The elite figures of the neighborhood represented the interests of the primarily assimilated, middle-class tenants. Meanwhile, the primarily Asian and Latino immigrant tenants represented a newer generation in the neighborhood. In 2018, after fifty years of struggle, a 100-unit low-income senior citizen building was completed in the area, where 50% of the units are allocated for affordable housing. The building was named Frances Goldin Houses in her honor.

Literary agency

Beginning in the 1950s, Goldin began to work in a small literary agency, so she could begin to understand the publishing industry. Eventually, in 1977, Goldin launched Frances Goldin Literary Agency, which focused on left-wing writers. Her clients included

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Allison (born April 11, 1949) is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of a ...

Staceyann Chin Staceyann Chin (born December 25, 1972) is a spoken-word poet, performing artist and LGBT rights political activist. Her work has been published in ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and the ''Pittsburgh Daily'', and has been fea ...

Martin Duberman Martin Bauml Duberman (born August 6, 1930) is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Herbert Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City. Early life Duberman was born ...

Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia police officer C ...

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Unive ...

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

Robert Meeropol Robert Meeropol (born May 14, 1947 as Robert Rosenberg) is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius was an electrical engineer and a member of the Communist Party. His mother Ethel (né ...

, Juan Gonzalez, and

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

. She said, "I do not market any material that is sexist, racist, homophobic or gratuitously violent." Many of the authors were included in ''Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA,'' published by Goldin, in 2014.

Protests

Goldin was a recognizable figure in multiple protest movements and marches. She was a longtime advocate for

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...

and participated in the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBTQ community in New York City. Among the largest Pride events in the world, the NYC Pride March attracts tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each J ...

for 35 years. She was known to carry a sign that read, "I Adore my Lesbian Daughters KEEP THEM SAFE," and she became a recognizable figure of the parades. As she aged, Goldin continued to protest. In 2011, Goldin was involved in the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to the ...

protests. She was known to carry a sign that said, “I’m 87 and MAD AS HELL." In 2018, when she was 92 years old, she participated in the

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 m ...

in a wheelchair. She raised her fist and chanted, "92 and Comin’ Through!” For many years, Goldin was known for her outspoken personality and distinctive style. In her old age, she had a neon purple streak in her white hair, and she wore a pin that said "TAX THE RICH," which was pinned to a purple sweatshirt.

Personal life

Goldin was married to Morris Goldin, a staff member of the New York State American Labor Party and advisor to Congressman

Vito Marcantonio Vito is an Italian name that is derived from the Latin word "''vita''", meaning "life". It is a modern form of the Latin name Vitus, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a heroic figure in southern ...

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

. Frances and Morris divorced in 1971. The couple had two daughters, Sally and Reeni, who are both

lesbians A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. They both

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

after their first

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

in 1970. Every year since then Goldin attended the NYC Pride Parade where she was always seen holding the same banner: "I Adore My Lesbian Daughters- Keep Them Safe."

Death

On May 16, 2020, Goldin died at her home on East 11th Street, where she had lived for nearly 50 years. She had endured years of declining health before her death. She was 95 years old. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called her a "...protester, provocateur and voice for lost causes" in its obituary. '' The Indypendent'' dedicated a full page obituary to her, in which they wrote, "Frances Goldin was relentless, her enthusiasm infectious. And her life shows the value of being a long distance runner." She is survived by her daughter Reeni Goldin and daughter-in-law Marge Burns, daughter Sally Goldin, and her grandson, Morris Goldin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Frances Housing rights activists from New York City Literary agents Activists from Queens, New York 1924 births 2020 deaths American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent