Frances Goldin

Frances Axler Goldin (June 22, 1924 – May 16, 2020) was a housing rights activist and literary agent in New York City. 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, which would have replaced historic, affordable housing with a freeway on the Lower East Side. 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 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, Queens. Her parents were working-class Jewish immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. Frances described him as a "freethinker" and "very much a union man." Her mother, Sophie (Saslowsky) Axler, was a homemaker and former seamstress who had been fired due to her union activity. She also experienced class discrimination as a child. Many of the neighborhood families were wealthier, and neighborhood fathers often worked in business capacities.

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 organizers.

Protests Goldin was a key figure in multiple protest movements and marches. With her daughter Reeni, she participated in the 1971 Fifth Street Women's Building Takeover, when over 100 women occupied an abandoned city building in order to establish a women's center and lesbian center. Goldin was a longtime advocate for LGBTQ rights and participated in the NYC Pride March 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. In 2018, when she was 92 years old, she participated in the Women's March in a wheelchair. She raised her fist and chanted, "92 and Comin’ Through!”

Death On May 16, 2020, Goldin died She had endured years of declining health before her death. She was 95 years old. The New York Times 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.