Nina Samorodin

Nina Samorodin (July 4, 1892 – November 28, 1981) After immigrating to the United States in 1914, she became involved in both union and women's activism. Samorodin was a factory worker and then general organizer of the Shirt Makers’ Union of Philadelphia. She was the executive secretary of the National Labor Alliance for Trade Relations with and Recognition of Russia. By 1922, she was also the secretary of the Women's Trade-Union League. Additionally, she taught at the Rand School of Social Science in New York City.

Personal inquiries

Samorodin wrote about her self-discovery as a suffragist. A recovered text that Nina wrote explained her confusion as to why females were not seen as equivalent to males in society. Her questions were answered with the simple biological fact that male and female are not mentally equal. Her interest was sparked after she began to research the biological differences between males and females, through which she came to the conclusion that women developed differently than men regardless of circumstances.

Occoquan Workhouse On September 13, 1917, during a peaceful protest, Samorodin carried a banner to one of the White House gates. Accused of obstructing traffic, Samorodin was arrested, tried, sentenced, and incarcerated for thirty days in the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia. While imprisoned, a fellow suffragist named Mary Winsor said that the suffragists in jail would sing the “Occoquan Song,” a tune “set to Russian music by Miss Nina Samorodin.” While in Occoquan, Samarodin demanded for better healthcare and treatment. It was reported that the prisoners were deprived of basic sanitation and hygiene, were served rancid food, and suffered physical mistreatment and beatings for which they were denied critical medical care. Her sister Vera visited her from time to time and noticed her health rapidly depleting and reached out to Russian ambassador in hopes of upgrading her prison treatment by renaming her a “political prisoner” instead of “inmate." thumb

Communist involvements After the 1920s, Samorodin abandoned most of her work with the National Woman's Party and focused her efforts on communist endeavors in America instead. In 1948 during the second “Red Scare,” Nina Samorodin's name was brought up in the “Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities.”