Mildred Grossman facts for kids

Mildred Grossman (1916-1988) was a dedicated public school teacher in New York City. She was also a strong supporter of civil rights, a union leader, and a talented photographer. Mildred was part of the famous Photo League, a group of photographers. She bravely led 32 other teachers in a legal fight against the New York City Public Schools. This fight was against a law from the "McCarthy era" called the Feinberg Law, which made teachers prove their loyalty to the government.

Early Life and Becoming a Teacher

Mildred Grossman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1916. She was the oldest of four children. She studied Business Administration and earned her teaching degree in 1937 from the City College of New York.

While in college, Mildred was very active. As the President of the Girls Club in 1935, she fought for important changes. She helped women get back into the college after they had been banned. She also worked to create a student union and protect academic freedom, which means teachers and students should be free to share ideas without fear. Mildred also pushed for financial help for students who needed it.

After college, in 1939, she started teaching business accounting at Central Commercial High School in Manhattan. She quickly became involved with the Teachers Union of New York. This union worked to protect teachers' rights and improve their working conditions.

A Photographer with a Purpose

In the late 1940s, Mildred joined the Photo League of NY. This group taught her how to take pictures that tell a story, like documentary and street photography. Soon, she became a staff photographer for Teacher News, the newspaper of the Teachers' Union.

Mildred used her camera to capture important moments. She photographed the Teachers Union's yearly conferences and rallies that supported academic freedom. She took pictures of famous speakers like playwright Arthur Miller and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who had been unfairly banned from working in Hollywood. She also photographed educator W. E. B. Du Bois and actor Paul Robeson when they received an award from the Teachers Union for their work towards peace and freedom.

Mildred also photographed teachers protesting in Albany for better salaries. She documented rallies in Washington for other unions and protests in New York City against unfair rules that threatened teachers' jobs and their right to express their political beliefs.

The "Red Scare" and Fighting for Justice

The 1940s and 1950s were a time in America known as the "Little Red Scare." During this period, the government was very worried about people who might have political beliefs that were seen as a threat. Many states made teachers take "loyalty oaths" to prove they were not involved in certain groups.

In New York, a law called the Feinberg Law was passed in 1949. This law made school districts report on the loyalty of every teacher each year. Teachers could be fired if they were part of groups or expressed ideas that the state commissioner of education called "disloyal." This caused a lot of fear, and many teachers lost their jobs or resigned.

Mildred Grossman herself was investigated. In 1953, she was questioned about her past political beliefs. She bravely fought back against these unfair accusations. However, because she refused to answer some questions about her past, she was suspended from her teaching job. In April 1954, after 12 years of teaching, Mildred was fired along with 38 other New York City teachers. The reason given was "insubordination" and that she had not "satisfactorily severed her ties" to certain political groups, as required by the Feinberg Law. Many other teachers also resigned or retired to avoid this difficult process. Mildred appealed her dismissal in 1955, but it was denied.

Becoming a Recognized Photographer

Even though she was barred from teaching, Mildred found new success in photography. In 1955, two of her photographs were chosen by famous photographer Edward Steichen for a huge exhibition called The Family of Man at the Museum of Modern Art. This exhibition traveled the world and was seen by millions of people.

One of her photos showed an elderly couple walking, their similar poses showing how long they had been married. Her other photo, taken in Germany, showed a grandmother and her grandchild, full of joy. Steichen also included Mildred's photos in another exhibition in 1957 called Seventy Photographers Look at New York.

This recognition gave Mildred a boost. She started working as a freelance photographer. She took pictures for the New York Hotel Trades Council and a local hotel workers' union. She photographed union members working, voting in elections, protesting on strike lines, and at union meetings. Her photos, which are now very important historical records, appeared in union newspapers and were shown in her own art exhibit called Portrait of a Union.

Mildred also used her photography to support the Civil Rights Movement. In 1957, she met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at a union office. She then created a photo story about the Little Rock Nine. These were the first African-American students to attend an integrated school, Little Rock Central High, in Arkansas in September 1957. They faced a lot of unfair treatment and violence. Mildred photographed them in the summer of 1958 when they visited New York. The New York Hotel Workers’ Union flew them to New York and gave them an award for promoting better race relations.

Mildred's photographs show the Little Rock Nine visiting famous places like the Statue of Liberty, the United Nations Headquarters, and Coney Island. One of the Little Rock Nine, Carlotta Walls LaNier, later remembered Mildred Grossman as a "tiny lady" who was very empathetic and took many photos without being intrusive. Carlotta realized later that Mildred understood what it was like to be treated unfairly.

Later Life and Legacy

Mildred Grossman continued her work as a union activist, photographer, and teacher until she passed away from cancer in 1988. In 1958, she married Motel "Mark" Berkowitz, a survivor of the Holocaust. In 1965, they traveled to Poland, his home country. The next year, she won a Polish photography competition with her image Strike Rally. She had also won an American competition in 1960. She took photos for the Poor People's Campaign in 1968, which fought for economic justice.

In 1967, the Supreme Court finally ruled that the Feinberg Law was unconstitutional. Mildred Grossman led a group of teachers to fight to get their jobs back. It wasn't until 1972 that they successfully sued and won their jobs back. In 1974, at age 58, Mildred returned to her teaching job at Central Commercial High School after 21 years away. Her long fight against unfair laws that limited academic freedom had finally paid off. Even in her sixties, she continued to fight for others as the head of the tenant union in her building.

Mildred Grossman's work is remembered in books like Fields of Vision: Women in Photography (1995) and Eye of the Storm: Photographs by Mildred Grossman (1999). These books show her important life as an educator, photographer, and civil rights activist.

Exhibitions

• The Family of Man, January 24 - May 8, 1955, US, NY, New York
• Seventy Photographers Look at New York, November 27, 1957 - April 15, 1958, US, NY, New York
• Photography At Mid-Century: 10th Anniversary Exhibition, November 9, 1959 - January, 1960, US, NY, Rochester
• Fields of Vision: Women in Photography. Baltimore: Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, University of Maryland, 1995.
• Eye of the Storm: Photographs by Mildred Grossman, February 8 - April 10, 1999, Baltimore, University of Maryland.

Collections

• Mildred Grossman Collection, Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
• New York Public Library, New York, NY 10018-2788, US