Rose Pesotta

Rose Pesotta (1896–1965) was an anarchist, feminist labor organizer and vice president within the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.

Background Pesotta was born Rakhel Peisoty in Derazhnia, Ukraine on Nov. 20, 1896, to a family of Jewish grain merchants. She was the second of the six daughters and eight children of her parents, Itsaak and Masya Peisoty. Pesotta was educated in both formal and informal settings during her childhood.

Her parents arranged a marriage for her, but she did not approve, so in 1913 she emigrated to New York City and became a seamstress in a shirtwaist factory. From 1924 to 1928, Pesotta also contributed occasional articles to the anarchist newspaper Road to Freedom (the successor to Emma Goldman's Mother Earth). She also worked in organizing efforts in Puerto Rico (1934), Akron, Milwaukee, and elsewhere.

Later life After leaving the union, Pesotta worked briefly for the B'nai B'rith. However, she returned to work as a seamstress in roughly a year. and Days of Our Lives (1958).

Death Pesotta died of cancer in Miami, Florida on Dec. 6, 1965.